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வரலாற்றின் விளைபொருள்: ”கசகறணம்” - விமல் குழந்தைவேலின் நாவல்

2011-12-20T23:27:00.002+01:00

-ந.சுசீந்திரன்

”வழி வழிவரும் ஏனைய இலக்கிய வடிவங்களைப் போலவே, நாவலும் வரலாற்றின் விளைபொருளாகும்…”

-க.கைலாசபதி, இலக்கியச் சிந்தனைகள், கொழும்பு 1983

விமல் குழந்தைவேல் அவர்களின் மூன்றாவது நாவல் கசகறணம், 2011 ஆம் ஆண்டின் நடுப்பகுதியில் வெளியாகியிருக்கின்றது. நூலின் முன்னுரையின் குறிப்புக்களில் இருந்து இந் நாவல் இலங்கையில் சமாதான ஒப்பந்தம் ஏற்பட்ட 2002 இற்குப் பின்னர் 2006 வரை நான்கு வருடங்கள் நிலவிய தற்காலிக அமைதியின் போது இலங்கையில் சுனாமிப் பேரலையின் அழிவுக் காலமான 2004 இன் இறுதி தொடக்கம் போர் முற்றாக முடிவுக்கு வந்த 2009 க்கும் இடைப்பட்ட 5 வருட காலத்தில் எழுதப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது என்று கொள்ளலாம். காலம், ஆன்மா, நாடு, இனங்கள், உறவு போன்றவற்றை சிதைத்துச் சிதிலங்களாக்கி விட்டெறிந்த ஒரு களப்புலத்தில், அதிகாரம், வன்முறை, ஆயுதக் கலாசாரம், போரின் ஆரவாரம், சமாதானம், அனர்த்தனங்கள், போன்ற பெருங்கதைச் சமாச்சாரங்கள் மனிதர்களைப் பிடித்துக்கொள்ளும்போது, தெருத்தூசிகளாக மதிப்பிழந்து மறக்கடிக்கப்பட்ட மிகச் சாதாரண மனிதர்களின் வாழ்வும் இருப்பும் மனோநிலையும் எப்படிச் சின்னாபின்னமாக்கப்பட்டது என்பதை அவர்களது அன்றன்றான சோலிகள், யோசனைகள், உணர்வுகள், பேச்சுக்கள், உறவாடல்கள் மூலம் ஒரு நல்ல நாவலாக உருமாற்றியிருக்கின்றர் விமல் குழந்தைவேல் அவர்கள். வரலாற்றின் விளைபொருளாக, காலத்தின் தவிர்க்க முடியாத அசலான அர்த்தம் மிக்க பதிவாகவும் இந் நவீனம் இருக்கின்றது.

கதையமைப்பு:

இந் நாவலின் கதையமைப்பு ஒரு திரைப்பட உத்தியிலானது. முதற்பாகத்தில் கணங்களும் பொழுதுகளும் அதனதன் பாதைகளில் உடன்பாடுகளோடும், முரண்பாடுகளோடும், அல்லது எதுவுமற்ற பாடுகளோடும் நடக்கின்றன. இரண்டாவது பாகம் ஒரு திரைப்படத்தில் இடைவேளைக்குப் பின்னர் போல, திருப்பங்களும் நிகழ்வுகளில் பாரிய மாற்றங்களும் ஏற்படுகின்றன. அக்கரைப்பற்றுச் சந்தை, அதிலிருந்து 5 கட்டை தொலைவிலுள்ள மொட்டையாபுரம், பத்தூடு, புதுக்குடியிருப்பு, புட்டம்பை போன்ற சில கிராமங்களின் எல்லைகளுக்குள்ளே இதில் வரும் சனங்களின் போக்கும் வாழ்வும் முடிந்துவிடுன்றன. அவர்கள் சிந்திக்கின்ற, பேசகின்ற பிராந்திய மொழியும், மொழிப்பிரயோகம், நிலம், காலம், வாழ்வு போன்றவற்றுடன் பின்னிப்பிணைந்த அதன் உள்ளடக்கமும் இந்தக் கதைச் சனங்களை ஒரு ஓவியனுக்கு முன்னமரும் உயிர்ப்பொருளாக வார்த்துக்காட்டியிருகின்றார் நாவலாசிரியர்.

நாவலில் அடிக்கடி வந்து போகும் முக்கிய சனங்களின் மனோவிம்பங்கள் வாசகர்களின் மனங்களில் அழியாத நிரந்தரமான, அல்லது குறைந்தது ஒரு நீண்டகாலம் வாழும் தன்மைத்தவையாக இருக்கின்றன. இதில் வரும் அவர்களது கவலைகள் உலகின் சிறந்த கதாசிரியர்களின் பாத்திரங்களோடு ஒப்பிடுமளவுக்கு நன்றாகவே படைக்கப்படுள்ளனர். ஹெமிங்வேயின் கிழவனும் பாலமும் என்ற ஒரு சிறுகதையில் ஸ்பானியப் போரின்போது இடப்பெயர்வுக்குள் அகப்பட்டுக்கொள்ளும் கிழவனின் கவலைகள் யாவும் தான் வளர்த்த ஆடு, பூனை பற்றியதாகவே இருந்தது போலவே இங்கேயும் மனிதர்கள் தத்தமது பிணைப்புக்கள் பற்றிய அக்கறைகளை வெளிப்படுத்துகின்றனர்.

இனமுரண்பாட்டின் குரூரவிளைவு 1983இல் நடந்த இனக்கலவரம். அதன் பின்னர் திடீர் வளச்சியடந்த உணர்ச்சி மேலோங்கிய தமிழர் தேசிய வாதம் உள்முரண்பாடுகளையும் கூர்மையடைய வைத்தது. கிழக்கில் ஒருதாய் பிள்ளைகளாக தமிழர்களுக்கும் முஸ்லிம்களுக்குமான சமூகவாழ்வின் அதிக தளங்களில் பின்னிப்பிணைந்த உறவு 1983க்குப் பின்னர் சந்தேகங்களாகவும், குரோதங்கள், கடத்தல்கள் , கொலைகளாகவும் விரிசலடைகின்றது. இந்த விரிசல்களுக்குள் அகப்பட்டு தம்மியல்பிழந்து அரசியல் பேசும் இளைஞர்கள், நன்வழமையையும், நல்லுறவையும் கிழித்து வெளிப்படுத்தப்படும் இன, மத பேதங்களை, ஏன் என்று புரிந்துகொள்ளமுடியாது, அவற்றுக்குத் தத்தம் இயலுமைக்கு ஏற்ப எதிர்ப்புணர்வுகாட்டி நிற்கும் முதியவர்கள், இந்தப் பாழாய்ப்போன விரிசலுக்குள் அகப்பட்டுப் பாரிய விலைகொடுத்துப் போகும் பெண்கள், அன்பும் அறமும் கருணையும் தொலைத்துவிட்டு கொலைமுகங்காட்டும் ஒரு காலப் பிழையாக அமைந்துவிட்ட கலாசாரம் போன்றவையே இந் நாவலின் கதாபாதிரங்கள். இலங்கையின் கிழக்கு மண்டலத்தின் தமிழ் , முஸ்லிம் சமூகங்களின் பின்னிப் பிணைந்த சமூகவாழ்வின் இழைகளைக் குலைத்து நாசஞ்செய்யும் போது இரண்டு சமூகங்களும் அதற்குக் கொடுக்கின்ற காவு மீட்கப்படமுடியாதது. உறவின் வலுவை, கலப்பின் மகிமையை, பிரித்தலின் குரூரத்தை, வாழ்வின் அர்த்தத்தினை எடுத்து சொல்லும் பேச்சுமொழிப் பிரதி ஒன்று இலக்கிய அழகியலாக ஆகிவிட்டிருக்கின்றது.

பாத்திரங்கள்:

சந்தை, குடில், மலைப்பரப்பு, சுரப் பந்தல், மூன்று இடங்களில் வைக்கப்பப்டிருக்கும் திரைப்பட விளம்பரத் தட்டிகள், வம்மி மரங்கள், சந்தை நாய்கள் என்ற சேதனங்கள், அசேதனங்கள் எல்லாமே வாசகர்களின் மனதில் ஏற்படும் காட்சிகளில் இன்றியமையாதபடி சேர்ந்து இயங்குகின்றன. மனிதர்களின் நிர்வாண மித்திரமான நேய இதயங்களே உரையாடலாக வெளிப்படுகின்றன. அன்பு நிரம்பி வழியும் சுரக்குடுவைகளாக அவர்களது அங்க அசைவும், பேச்சும் மூச்சும் இருப்பதை நாம் உணர்ந்து கொள்ளலாம். `நினைவுகள் அழியும்போது` என்ற சிவானந்தனின் நாவலில் மூன்று தலைமுறைக் காலங்களும் மனிதர்களும் காட்டப்பட்டிருகின்றனர். அந்த . `நினைவுகள் அழியும்போது` என்ற நாவலில் கதா பாத்திரங்கள் பேசுகின்ற மொழியும் அதன் உள்ளடக்கமும் அறிவார்ந்த தளத்தில் இயங்குகின்றன. அதேவேளை, இங்கே கசகரணம் நாவலில் பாத்திரங்கள் சாதாரண மக்களின் அன்றாட ‚கொப்பனோழி‘ மொழியையே பேசுகின்றனர். அவர்களது குணங்கள், வெளிப்பாடுகள், உடல்மொழி யாவையும் பாசாங்கற்றவை, அறிவின் மெழுகுப்படையற்றவை. இந் நாவலில் வருகின்ற குறட்டைக்காக்காவின் அன்பின் இங்கித்தை அக்காலக் கிராம மனிதர்களிடம் கண்டிருப்போம். இங்கே நாம் பார்க்கின்ற மனிதர்கள் எமக்கு மிகவும் நெருக்கமானவர்கள். நாம் அவர்களைச் சின்னஞ்சிறிய வியாபாரிகளாக சந்தை மூலைகளிலும், பஸ் நிலையங்களிலும், கோவில்களின் வெளிவீதிகளிலும் கூறு பிரித்து வைத்திருக்கும், மூலிகைகள், புளியங்காய், இலந்தைப்பழம், பிஞ்சுமிளகாய் போன்றவற்றின் முன்னிருக்கக் கண்டிருப்போம். இந்தக் கதை நீங்கள் விரும்பினால் மைலிப் பெத்தாவின் சோகக் கதையாகவோ அல்லது வீரம் விளையும் மனங்கள் என்ற பெண்விடுதலை நாவலாகவோகூடக் கொள்ளலாம். இன்னும் இங்கே கம்பீரம் நிறைந்த பெண்ணாக செதுக்கப்பட்டிருப்பவள் வெள்ளும்மா. இப் புதினத்தில் வருகின்ற வெள்ளும்மா போன்ற நிஜ மனிதர்கள் ஒவ்வொரு ஊரிலும் இருந்துகொண்டுதானிருக்கின்றனர். இவர்களிடம் காணப்படும் பண்புகள் வாழ்வின் அனுபவங்களாலும் ஊறுபடுத்தப்படாத மனித நேயத்தாலும் உருவானவை. அவர்களுக்குத் தோன்றுபவை இரத்தமும் சதையும் உணர்வும் கொண்ட மனிதர்களே தவிர அவர்களின் புறவழிப் பேதங்கள் அல்ல. அப்படித்தான் இக் கதையில் வரும் பெண்கள் மைலிப் பெத்தா, வெள்ளும்மா, குலத்தழகி, மலர், பொன்னம்மை போன்ற இருக்கின்றனர். குலத்தழகி என்ற பெண் பாத்திரம் ஒரு சினிமாப் பைத்தியமாகினும், சினிமாவில் வரும் பெண்பாத்திரங்களின் பாடுகளை தன் சாயலில் உள்வாங்கி உறக்கமற்று இருப்பதுவும் தன் கதைபோல் வெளிப்படுத்துவதும் கிராமத்தின், பெண்ணின் மெல்லிதயங்களைச் சுட்டி நிற்கின்றது.

கிழக்கு மாகாணம் நாடார் வழக்காறுகளின் தோப்புக்காடு. நெய்தல் மற்றும் மருதத் திணை வாழ்வு இந்த வழக்காறுகளின் ஊற்று. அத்தோடு முஸ்லிம் மக்களுக்குள் விரவிக்கிடக்கும் கவிப் பண்பாட்டை கவிசொல்லுதல், ஏட்டிக்குப் போட்டியான பாட்டுக் கட்டுதல், நொடிபோடுதல் போன்றவை எவ்வாறு அவர்களின் வாழ்வுடனும் இரண்டறக் கலந்துள்ளதென்பதைப் பல ஆய்வாளர்கள் குறித்துள்ளனர். கசகறணம் நாவலில் மீரிசாக்காக்காவும் வெள்ளும்மாவும் சொல்லும் கவிகள் அனேகமானவை அகத்திணைக் கவிதைகள் என்று பிரிக்கப்படும் உள்ளுணர்வு,காதல் மற்றும் மென்ணுணர்வு கொண்டவை. இவை இந் நாவலில் கிராமியப் பண்பாட்டின் அழகுப்பரிமாணத்தைச் ஆர்ப்பாட்டமில்லாமல், வார்த்தை விபரிப்பு இல்லாமல் சொல்லிவிடப் பயன்பட்டிருக்கின்றன. ஆனாலும் „கிழக்கிலங்கை முஸ்லிம்கள் மத்தியில் வழங்கும் நாட்டார் இலக்கியத்தில் காதல் பாடல்கள் என்று வழங்கப்படுபவை உண்மை வாழ்க்கையில் காதலர்களால் பாடப்படுபவை அல்ல என்பதும் அவை வேளாண்மைத் தொழிலுடன் தொடர்புடையவை என்பதும், ஆண்களால் பாவனை முறையில் பாடப்படுபவை என்பதும், ஆண்களாலேயே படைக்கப்பட்ட புனைவியற் பாங்கான இலக்கியங்கள் என்பதும் தெளிவாகின்றது“ என்று இக் கவிகள் பற்றி எம். ஏ. நுஃமான் அவர்கள் சொல்வதை மனதில் கொள்ளவேண்டும். மேலும் முற்காலத்தில் குஜிலிப் பாடல்களில் சொல்லப்படும் அன்றன்றைய பரபரப்புச் செய்திகள் போலவும் நாவலில் பல இடங்களில் வெள்ளும்மா பாட்டுக்கட்டுகின்றாள்.

ஆறுமணி ஆகுதுகா

ஆமிக்காரன் வந்துட்டாங்கா

அண்ணாந்து பாருகா

அடமழையும் வருகுதுகா

கச்சான் சாக்கத் தூக்கிக்

கக்கத்துல வைடி மைலி

மிச்ச மீதீயெல்லாம்

நாளைக்குக் கதைப்போமடி

என்றும்

பட்டிமோடு தொட்டு

பனங்காட்டுப் பாலம்வரை

எட்டடிக்கு ஒரு ஆமி

ஒட்டியொட்டி நிண்டாண்டி

கிட்டவந்து அவன்

என்னுடம்பைத் தொட்டிருந்தா

ஒட்ட நறுக்கியிருப்பன்

அவன் உள்ளுறுப்பு அத்தினையும்.

இக் கதா பாத்திரங்கள் காணும் கெட்ட சகுனங்கள், சமிச்சைகள், மற்றும் அவர்கள் கொண்டிருக்கும் பக்தி, நம்பிக்கைகள், பயங்கள் போன்றவை எளிதாக நிராகரித்துவிட்டுப் போக முடியாதபடி நிகழ்வுகளும் அமைந்துவிடுகின்றன. ஒவ்வொரு பாத்திரங்களுக்கும் ஏற்படுகின்ற அவரவர் தலைவிதிகளும் கூட தெரிவுகளற்று இயல்பாகவே ஏற்படுகின்றன. குண்டுகள் எவர் உடலையும் துளைத்துவிடலாம், மரணங்கள் யார் தலைமீதும் கவியலாம், தீகருக்கிய நாதியற்ற பிணங்களாய் இவர்கள் வீசப்பட்டுக் கிடக்கலாம். இப்படித்தானே இருந்தது எமது மக்களின் அண்மைய வாழ்வும் அவர் கண்ட காலங்களும்.

இந் நாவல் நிகழ்வுகளால் கதைநகர்த்திச் சொல்லப்படும் நாவல் என்று சொல்வதைவிட பாத்திரங்களின் சிந்தனைகளாலும் அதனையொட்டி அவர்களின் காரியங்களாலும் உருவாக்கப்படுகின்றது என்றும் கூறலாம். இந் நாவலில் கௌரவமாக உருவக்கப்பட்டுள்ள பாத்திரம் கனகவேல் என்ற திருநங்கை ஒருவரின் பாத்திரம். சு. சமுத்திரம் அவர்களின் வாடாமல்லி என்ற புதினம், மற்றும் அண்மையில் வெளியாகிய லிவிங் ஸ்மைல் வித்யா அவர்களின் நான் வித்தியா என்ற தன்வரலாறு போன்ற நூல்கள் தமிழ் மொழிச் சமூகங்களில் திருநங்கையர்களின் அடையாளதிற்கான போராட்டதின் கடினங்களையும் நியாயங்களையும் சொல்லிச்செல்கின்றன. இந் நாவலில் கனகவேல் சமூக ஒடுக்குமுறைகளுக்குத் துணிசலாக முகம் கொடுப்பதும் எதிர்த்துநிற்பதும் உற்சாகமளிக்கின்றது. ஏனெனில் சமூக முரண்பாடுகள், இன,மத வேறுபாடுகள், பெண்ணொடுக்குமுறை, ஜனநாயகமின்மை, இராணுவமயமாக்கம், பேணப்படவேண்டிய விழுமியங்கள், தொன்மங்கள்,மரபுகள் போன்றவற்றின் அழிவு, போன்றவை காணப்படும் நம் சமூகங்களில் இப் பாத்திரங்களின் வரவும், வகிபாகமும் குறிப்பிட்டுச் சொல்லபடவேண்டியவை

மொழி

"தமிழைத் தம் உயிராக மதிப்பவர்கள் கிழக்கிலங்கை முஸ்லிம்கள். அவர்களது பேச்சு மொழியே கவிதைபோல் இனிக்கும். „அந்த மறுகால் போய்க் கிறுகுகா என்று சாதாரணன் ஒருவன் பேசும் தமிழில் உள்ள மறுகு, கிறுகு என்பன சங்கத் தமிழடா சங்கத் தமிழ்!“என்று பல தசாப்தங்களுக்கு முன் தமிழ் கற்பித்த ஆசிரியர் கூறிப் பெருமைப்பட்டது எனக்கு இன்றும் நினைவில் இருக்கின்றது…“ [1] என்று சொல்வார் பேராசிரியர் எம்.எல்.ஏ.காதர் அவர்கள். வண்ண நிலவனின் „கடல்புரத்தில்“ என்ற நல்ல நாவல் ஒன்றில் மணப்பாடு கிராமத்தின் மீனவ மக்கள் பேசுகின்ற மொழியே அந் நாவலின் பலம். கசகரணம் நாவலிலும் பாத்திரங்கள், தொழில், நிகழ்வுகள், பிரதேசம், காலம் என்பனவற்றோரு மிகுந்த ஒன்றிப்படைகின்றது பேசும் மொழியும், அதன் பிரயோகத்தில் வந்தடையும் உவமானங்கள், பழமொழிகள், கவிகள் என்பனவும். இவ்வாறு ஏற்படுகின்ற பொருத்தம் வலிந்து புகுத்தப்படாததாய், மிக இயல்பாக அமைந்து விடுதல் இந் நாவலின் சிறப்புக்கான இன்னுமொரு காரணி.

கசகறணம் நாவலில் குறியீடுகள் அதிகம் இல்லை. ஏனெனில் இது கடந்துபோன அண்மைக்காலத்தின் ஒரு தசாப்த காலத்து சமூக, அரசியல் வடிவமாற்றங்களைப் பேசுகின்ற வரலாற்றின் சுவடுகளையும் தடயங்களையும் தன்னகத்தே பெருமளவு கொண்டியங்குகின்றது. கிழக்கிலங்கையின் வாழ்வியலை பல படைப்பாளிகள் அருள் சுப்பிரமணியம், வ.அ.இராசரத்தினம், ராஜேஸ்வரி பாலசுப்பிரமணியம், ஜோண் ராஜன், ஜூனைதா செரீப், சண்முகம் சிவலிங்கம், வை.அஹமது, திக்குவல்லை கமால், எஸ்.முத்துமீரான், அ.ஸ.அம்துல் ஸமது, மருதூர்க் கொத்தன், யுவன் கபூர், அண்ணல், புரட்சிக் கமால், ஓட்டமாவடி அறபாத் போன்றவர்கள் எழுத்துக்களில் காண்கின்ற நாம் பட்டணத்தின் தோரணையும் கிராமத்தின் உள்ளுடலாகவும் இருக்கின்ற அக்கரைப்பற்றையும் அதன் சுற்றுப் பிரதேசங்களையுமே கதைப்புலங்களாக கொண்ட இந்த நாவலில் அண்மைய வரலாறு, நிலவியல், இனமுரண்பாட்டின் குரூரமுகம், நேசங்கொண்ட மனிதர்களில் பட்டென்று பிறழும் மனங்கள் போன்றவற்றை தரிசிக்கின்றோம். பல்சமூகங்கள் வாழும் கீழைத்தேயங்களின் எந்த ஊருக்கும் இக் கதையைப் பொருத்திப் பார்க்கலாம். அந்நிய உணர்வற்று எமது பாட்டிகள், எமது மனிதர்கள் தான் கதைமுழுவதும் நடமாடுகின்றனர். இன்றைய ஈழத்தின் நாவல்களில் மிக முக்கிய நாவலாக இதனைக் காண்கிறோம்.

[1] றமீஸ் அப்துல்லாஹ், கிழக்கிலங்கை கிராமியம்,கொழும்பு 2001, பக்.

சபாலிங்கம்

2011-12-20T23:21:00.002+01:00

[1994 ஆம் ஆண்டு மே மாதம் 1ம் திகதி ச. சபாலிங்கம் அவர்கள் பிரான்ஸ் தேசத்தில் தலைநகர் பாரிசில் அவரது இல்லத்தில் வைத்து புலிகளின் கொலைப்படையினரால் சுட்டுக்கொல்லப்பட்டார். 12.05.1994 இல் சபாலிங்கத்தின் உடல் எரியூட்டப்பட்டது. அன்றைய தினத்தில் இறுதி அஞ்சலிக்காக மயானதில் சுமார் 500க்கும் அதிகமான தமிழ் மக்கள் கலந்து கொண்டனர். அங்கு நடந்த மயான இறுதி அஞ்சலிக் கூட்டத்தில் ந.சுசீந்திரன் ஆற்றிய உரை. ]

காலத்தின் சாட்சிகளை அழித்துக் கொண்டே இருங்கள். நீங்கள் எழுதப்போகும் எங்கள் வரலாற்றை வாசிக்க இறுதியில் யார் இருக்கப் போகின்றார்கள்? தொடர்ந்தும் துப்பாக்கிகளின் கீழ்ப்படிவின் முன்னினையில் வரலாற்றைப் படிக்கவும் பாடமாக்கவும் சாம்பல் மேடுகளும் எலும்புத்தோட்டங்களும்…! இன்னும் போதாதா உங்களுக்கு?

தின்ற மண்ணில் அவன் செத்து, அவன் அழைந்த புழுதியில் அவனது குருதியோடி, அவன் அலம்பிய தண்ணீரில் அவன் அஸ்தி கரைந்து போவதை தடுத்துவிட மட்டும் உங்களால் இன்று முடிந்திருக்கின்றது. இவன் பதித்த தடயங்களை உங்கள் துப்பாக்கிகள், துர்ப் பாக்கிகள் ஒன்றும் செய்துவிடமுடியாது. மாற்றுக் கருத்தின் சிறு பொறிகளைக்கூட கண்டு குலை நடுக்கங் கொள்ளும் கோழை எப்போதுமே கொடூரமானவனாகத்தான் இருப்பான்.

சரித்திரங்ளை அழித்துவிடலாம் என்று கனவு காணாதீர்கள்! நியாயங் கேட்கவும் அழிப்பின் தடயங்களைத் தேடவும் உங்களால் ஒடுக்கப்பட்டுக்கொண்டேயிருக்கும் ஒரு சிறுபான்மை இருந்துகொண்டே இருக்கும். உண்மை என்பது வெட்ட வெட்டத் தளைவது. நீங்கள் சுடச் சுடத் துலங்குவது. எங்களை அழிக்கும் வரை, எங்கள் எண்ணங்களிலும் எழுத்துக்களிலும் இவர்கள் வருவார்கள். ஒரு றிடாச் டி சொய்சா வருவான். ராஜனி திராணகம வருவாள்; சபாலிங்கம் வருவான். இன்னும் இன்னும் முகந்தெரியாத சிறுவர்களும் முகவரி இல்லாத மனிதருங்கூட இன்னொன்று சொல்ல வருவார்கள். உங்களைத் தொந்தரவு செய்ய வருவார்கள். உங்களாற் கொல்லப்பட வருவார்கள், வருவார்கள், வருவார்கள்!

மே மாதம் பத்தாம் நாளில் தான் ஜெர்மனியின் நாசிகள் தமக்கு விரும்பாத அறிவாளிகளின் நூல்களை எரித்தார்கள், தம் பெருங் கருத்துக்கு எதிரான புத்தகங்களை அள்ளித் தீயிலிட்டார்கள். அறிவும் மனிதரும் அழிந்தா போயினர்? இல்லை! இப்படித்தான் இவனைக் கொன்றதால் இன்னொரு பிரதியீடு இல்லாமலா போய்விடும்? சிலவேளை இல்லாமலே போய்விடவுங் கூடும். ஆனால் இந்தப் புகலிட வாழ்வின் அர்த்தமுள்ள காலத்திற்குள் நீ கரைந்திருக்கின்றாய் சபாலிங்கம்! அதற்கொரு பிரதியீடும் தேவையில்லை. புத்தகங்கள் சாட்சி சொல்லும்! புதுக்காலமொன்று நும் இறுதி சொல்லும்.

உங்கள் பயத்தினைக் கண்டு நாம் வலிமை பெறுகின்றோம். அச்சுறுத்துவதற்கும் உயிர் கொல்லும் கோழைகளே – மூளை முழுவதும் வெடிமருந்து அடைத்து வைத்திருக்கும் முட்டாள்களே இன்று இவன், நாளை நான், அதற்கடுத்து இன்னொருவன் என்று கொன்று விடுவதால் நீங்கள் அதிகமாக ஒன்றும் பெற்றுவிடப் போவதில்லை. உணருங்கள்! உங்கள் பயத்தில் நாம் வலிமை பெறுவோம்.

மண்ணை , மனிதரை, விடுதலையை, நேசிக்கத் தெரிந்தவர்களிடம் பொறாமை கொள்ளும் உங்கள் போக்கை உலகம் என்றோ கண்டு, உங்கள் இறுதியை ஏற்கனவே எழுதிவைத்து விட்டது! எண்ணப்பட்டுக்கொண்டிருக்கும் நாட்கள் சபாலிங்கம் போன்ற தனிமனிதர்களினதல்ல. உங்கள் துப்பாக்கிக் கலாசாரத்தினதும், அதிகார ஆணவத்தினதும் நாட்களுந்தான்.

என் குழந்தையும் இவன் குழந்தையும் துள்ளி விளையாட ஒரு முற்றம் தேவை. பாலகரைப் போருக்கனுப்பிய வீரமா பேசுகிறாய் என்னருமைத் தமிழே? எவனோ உன்னை அடக்குவதற்காய் பாணந் தின்ற நெஞ்சு கண்டு பரவசமடைந்த தாயே, என் குழந்தையும் இவன் குழந்தையும் துள்ளிவிளையாட ஒரு முற்றந் தேவை; துவக்குகளுடன் ஒருவரை ஒருவர் சுட்டு மடிந்து மானுடத்தை மாய்ப்பதற்கல்ல, மாறாக இளமையின் யவ்வனங்களை இவர்கள் பெறவேண்டும். இன்று கோமதியின் வாழ்வை அழித்தீர்கள்; குழந்தை சேயோனின், அந்த இளங்தளிரின் யவ்வனந்தை அழித்தீர்கள். இவர்கள் மட்டுமா இன்னும் எத்தனை பிஞ்சுகளின்….!

இந்தத் தளிர்களின், இந்தத் தாய்களின், இந்த மனைவியரின் மௌனங்கள் பேசும் நாளொன்று தோன்றும்.

ஐரோப்பாவில் வளர்ந்து வரும் நிறவெறியா இவனைக் கொன்றது? புதிய நாசிகளா இவனைக் கொன்றார்கள்? பெரும்பான்மைத் திமிர்வெறியில் தமிழரை அழித்து வரும் இலங்கை அரசா இவனைக் கொன்றார்கள்?

இல்லை! இல்லை! சபாலிங்கம் ஒருகால் அடைக்கலம் கொடுத்த புலிகளே இவனைக் கொன்றார்கள். என்னே அவலம்! இந்த எல்லா அவலத்தின் காயங்களும் நிரந்தரமாக ஆறிவிடவேண்டும்! ஆறிவிடவேண்டும்!

ஊடக அறிக்கை

2011-12-18T08:16:00.000+01:00

உடனடியாக வெளியிடப்படலாம்!!

புலம்பெயர் இலங்கையர் சர்வதேச வலைப்பின்னல்

ஊடக அறிக்கை

மனித வரலாறு முழுவதும் பல்வேறு அர்ப்பணிப்புகள் மற்றும் செயற்பாடுகள் ஊடாக இன்னுயிர்களைத் தியாகம் செய்து, மனித இனத்தின் உரிமைகளையும் ஞாபக மூட்டி, மேலும் வென்றெடுக்க வேண்டிய உரிமைகள் சார்பில், புதிய உயிர்ப்புடன் செயற்பட, உலக மக்கள் மனித உரிமைகள் தினத்தை நினைவு கூருகின்றனர்.தமது உரிமைகளுக்காகத் தொடர்ந்து போராட வேண்டிய நிலைமைக்கு இலங்கை மக்கள் தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளனர். சர்வதேச மனித உரிமைகள் தினத்தை நினைவு கூர்வதற்கும், அதே சமயம் மனித சுதந்திரத்தையும் உரிமைகளையும் வென்றெடுப்பதற்காக ஒரு பொதுக் கூட்டத்தையும் ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தையும் நடத்துவதற்கு, யாழ்ப்பாணத்திற்குச் சென்ற மனித உரிமைச் செயற்பாட்டாளர்களின் பத்திரிகைகள், துண்டுப்பிரசுரங்கள், பதாகைகள், சுலோக அட்டைகள் என்பவற்றைக் கிழித்தெறிந்தும் உடைத்தெறிந்தும் பறிமுதல் செய்தும், பாதுகாப்புப் படையினரும் பொலிசாரும் பெரும் அட்டகாசங்களை விளைவித்தனர். அதே சமயம, ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தைத் தொடரவிடாது தடைசெய்தும் உளவியல் ரீதியாகவும் உடல் ரீதியாகவும் பல இம்சைகளை ஏற்படுத்தியமை குறித்தும் புலம்பெயர் இலங்கையர் சர்வதேச வலைப்பின்னலைச் சார்ந்த நாம் வன்மையாகக் கண்டிக்கின்றோம்.அதே சமயம் இலங்கை அரசு தொடர்ச்சியாக மனித உரிமைகளை மீறுவது குறித்தும் , மனித உரிமைச் செயற்பாட்டாளர்களுக்கு இடையூறு விளைவிப்பது குறித்தும் ,எமது கண்டனத்தைத் தெரிவிக்கின்றோம்.

கடந்த காலத்தில் பல்வேறு வகையில் ஆட்களை காணாமற் போகச் செய்வது இலங்கை அரசியலின் ஓர் அங்கமாகியுள்ளது. இந்த அடக்குமுறையின் மற்றுமோர் அம்சமாக மக்கட் போராட்ட இயக்கத்தின் ஊடகக் கலந்துரையாடலை நடத்துவதற்குத் தேவையான ஒழுங்குகளை மேற்கொண்ட மேற்படி இயக்கத்தின் லலித்குமார் வீரராஜ் மற்றும் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தின் ஆவரங்கால் பிரதேசத்தில் வசிக்கும் குகன் முருகானந்தன் ஆகியோரை காணமற் போகச் செய்தமை குறித்தும் புலம் பெயர் இலங்கையர் சர்வதேச வலைப்பின்னல் வன்மையாகக் கண்டிப்பதோடு அவர்களை கண்டுபிடிப்பதற்கான புலனாய்வுப் பணிகளை மேற்கொண்டு உடனடியாகத் தேடித்தருமாறும் நாம் அரசாங்கத்தை வலியுறுத்துகின்றோம்.

இலங்கை வாழ் எந்தவொரு பிரஜையும் தமது அரசியல் கருத்தைக் கொண்டிருக்கவும் , அதனை ஜனநாயக ரீதியாக வெளிப்படுத்தவும் , அக்கருத்திற்காகச் செயற்படவும் , சம உரிமை உண்டு. இச் செயற்பாடுகளை நசுக்குவதற்கு அரசு மேற்கொள்ளும் கொடூரமான அடக்கு முறைகளையும் நாம் வன்மையாகக் கண்டிக்கின்றோம்.மனித உரிமைகளை நினைவு கூரும் இச் சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் மனித உரிமைகளுக்கு ஏற்பட்டுள்ள சவால்களையும் அடக்குமுறைகளையும் இட்டு நாம் வெகு உன்னிப்பாகக் கவனித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றோம்.

ரஞ்சித் ஹேனாயக்க ஆராச்சி, நடராசா சுசீந்திரன்
புலம்பெயர் இலங்கையர் சர்வதேச வலைப்பின்னலின் சார்பில்

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[N.B.: the Press release in Singala language may be uploaded as another note]

2011-12-06T09:30:00.000+01:00

மாநிலங்களின் கூட்டுக் குடியரசு ஜெர்மனியின் தற்போதைய ஜனாதிபதி கிறிஸ்ரியான் வுல்வ் அவர்கள். பிரதம மந்திரி அங்கெலா மார்க்கல் அவர்களின் கிறிஸ்தவ ஜனநாயக கட்சியினைச் சேர்ந்தவர். இவர் முன்னர் நீடார்சக்சன் என்ற மாநிலத்தின் முதலமைச்சராக இருந்தவர். இவர் முதலமைச்சராக இருந்தபோது 2008 ஆம் ஆண்டு 415,000 € பெறுமதியான வீடு ஒன்றை வாங்குவதற்கு அவரது கோடீஸ்வர நண்பரின் மனைவியிடமிருந்து தனிப்பட்ட முறையில் 500,000 € தொகைப் பணத்தை 4% வட்டிக்கு அய்ந்து வருடக் கடனாக பெற்றிருந்தார். இது தனிபட்ட கடனா அல்லது அன்பளிப்பா அல்லது கடன்பெறுவதில் ஏதாவது சலுகைகள் பெற்றுக்கொண்டாரா அல்லது இது பரஸ்பர சலுகைகள் அனுபவிப்பதற்கான லஞ்சப் பணமா என்கிற ரீதியில் மாநில சட்டசபையில் எதிர்கட்சிகள் சந்தேகம் எழுப்பியதைத் தொடர்ந்தே மேற்காட்டப்பட்ட தகவல்கள் வெளியிடப்பட்டன. ஆனால் இவரது கோடீஸ்வர நண்பர் பல தடவைகள் நிற்வாகப் பயணங்களின் போது இடம்பெற்ற சந்திப்புக்களில் கலந்து கொண்டதை ஆதாரங்காட்டியும், சட்டப்படி ஆட்சிப் பணியில் இருக்கும் அரசியல்வாதி ஒருவர் தனிப்பட்ட ரீதீயில் சலுகைகள் பெறுவது சட்டத்திற்கு முரணானது என்பதையும் காட்டி இன்று ஜெர்மனி மக்களைப் பிரிதிநிதித்துவம் செய்யும் இன்றைய ஜனாதிபதி நம்பிக்கைகுரியவரா என்ற சர்ச்சைகள் எழுந்துள்ளன. இதனால் இவர் ஜனாதிபதி பதவியில் இருந்து இராஜினாமாச் செய்யும்படி கோரும் குரல்கள் அதிகரித்து வருகின்றன. இந்த ஆரவாரத்தில், கொலைகாரக் குழு அமைத்துப் புதிய நாசிகள் வெளிநாட்டவர்கள் பலரைக் கொலைசெய்ததுடன் அரச உளவுத்துறையின் பண உதவியும் பெற்று கொல்லப்பட்டவர்களே கொலைக்குக்காரணமானவர்கள் என்ற நம்பும்படி செய்தமையும் உளவுத்துறையின் கூற்றங்களும் அண்மையில் வெளியாகியமை மறந்துவிட அல்லது அதன் வலுவிழந்துவிடும் வாய்பும் அதிகமாகவே உள்ளது.

Welcome speech by George R Willy to President Rajapakse

2010-11-05T00:45:00.003+01:00

Full text:
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome Your Excellency to this great city. If you can ignore the oak trees and the mocking birds you could easily mistake this for Sri Lanka.

It is in Sri Lanka that I was born, and my mother and the parents of my wife Shanthi, our grand fathers and grand mothers are all buried under the sacred soil of my motherland. I grew up Your Excellency, in Jaffna and moved to Colombo when I was only ten years old. My wife is from Badulla, grew up in Diyatalawa where her dad was a well a respected captain in the army.

I have smelt the sweetness of Margosa trees in Jaffna and taste of the Red Jumbu fruits that left red stains on my white shirt as I walked to school in Colombo. I know the allure of Jack fruits ripening on the trees as crows begin to break them open.

I have seen the bright colour of pandals during Wesak and shamelessly ate food at Dansala meant for the poor. And I have heard the chanting of Kovils and inhaled the smell of jasmine and Joss sticks. I’ve heard the bell of All Saint’s church as I assisted Father Herath during Mass.

But since I left Sri Lanka in 1975 there has been such pain, such sorrow and such agony. The mighty Mahaweli Ganga that usually brings its sacred waters to the paddy fields spat out blood. Both the Sinhalese and Tamils. From up here in the United States I have watched the land of my forefathers descend from paradise deep into hell. No one can say with certainty who is to blame but the time for blaming is long gone.

Your Excellency, your power be descended from Dutugemunu and my people from Elara. Remember how Dutugemunu fought Elara on his Elephant Kandula and killed Elara. Dutugemunu of course is still remembered for uniting Sri Lanka for the first time. But he is also remembered for something else. After defeating and killing Elara he built a monument for Elara out of respect for his worthy opponent. He ordered all the citizens of the land to stop, dismount and pay respect to Elara. In so doing he not only showed what a great noble man he was. But also proved to be a great politician. He knew that He had to rule the Tamil people too after the defeat of Elara.

Your Excellency, faith and fortune and your great political skills have placed you at a unique point in history.

Children years to come, will read in their history books, that a great leader, a great warrior by the name of Mahinda Rajapaksa finally defeated the rebellion after nearly 25 years when several before him failed. They may even say that you are Dutugamunu of the 21 century. But if you want to wear Gemunu’s mantle, Your Excellency, you will have to build a monument too. That monument does not have to be a Dagoba or a building. It will have to be new policy backed by laws with teeth to enforce.

Do not make the mistake that started 58 riots. Do not hold back Tamils who want to get into Universities. Do not make the Tamils feel like they are second class citizens. Respect their religion, and respect their language. There is something about the Tamil people you need to know Your Excellency. To them their language is God. There are only few cultures in the world which has such devotion to the language.

You were trained as a lawyer and in your early career you were a formidable defender of human rights.

Now you have the popularity, you have the power of a hero, like Julius Caeser, returning to Rome from his conquests. No one can deny what you ask. Ask the parliament to pass some entrenched clauses; you and I read in law school. Then we have had to study the Soulbury Constitution. If you need my help I will give it free like many in this audience would. The Tamil people are naked and hungry looking for you to assure them that there is a place for them.

Make sure they have one. You killed one Prabhakaran but do not let another grow. You cannot prevent another one with swords and guns. You can only do that with your heart and wisdom. Compassion, truth and justice, you learnt from Buddha are the only weapons you will need. According to Dhamma Pada, Buddha said that hatred does not cease by hatred at any time. Hatred cease by love. This is an old rule. That's what the Buddha said.

Your Excellency, as you leave this fair city and return to Sri Lanka, promise me that a 10 year boy walking to school tomorrow in his white shirt will have no other red stain than from the Jumbu fruits. The morning crow will not open anything other than the jackfruit. That there will be nothing else hanging from the Magosa trees, than the fruits I smelt.

Your Excellency return us to paradise, return us to paradise. Thank You!

Text in Tamil:
ஹ்யூஸ்டன், டெக்சாஸ் சட்டத்தரணி ஜார்ஜ் வில்லி அவர்களின் வரவேற்புரை:

மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே இப் பெருநகருக்கு உங்கள் வரவு நல்வரவாகுக. இங்கிருக்கும் ஓக் மரங்களையும் பிற பறவைகளைப் போல போலிக்குரல் எழுப்பும் பறவைகளையும் தவிர்த்துவிட்டுப் பார்த்தால் இது இலங்கையோ என்று நீங்கள் இலகுவில் மயங்கிவிடலாம்.
நான் இலங்கையில் பிறந்தவன். என் தாயும் என் மனைவி சாந்தியின் தந்தையும் தாயும் மற்றும் எங்களது பாட்டன்கள் பாட்டிகள் யாவரும் அங்கேதான் என் அத் தாய்த்திரு நாட்டின் புனித மண்ணுக்குள் புதைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.
மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே நான் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் வளர்ந்து என் பத்தாவது வயதில்தான் கொழும்பு வந்தவன். என் மனைவி பதுளையைச் சேர்ந்தவள். அவள் தந்தை தியத்தலாவையில் மதிப்புமிக்கதொரு கப்டன் என்பதால் அவள் அங்கேயே வளர்ந்தவள். நான் யாழ்ப்பாணத்தின் வேப்பமரங்களின் இன்சுவை முகர்ந்தவன். கொழும்பில் பாடசாலை செல்லும் வழியில் செக்கச் சிவந்த ஜம்புப் பழம் தின்று அதன் சிவப்புக் கொட்டை விழுந்து என் சட்டை கறைபடிந்ததுண்டு. மரத்தில் பழுத்த பலாப்பழத்தை காக்கைகள் கொத்தித் திறந்துவிடுகையில் கவர்ந்திழுக்கும் நறுமணத்தை நன்றே தெரிந்தவன். வெசாக் திருநாளின் மிகைவர்ண அலங்காரப் பந்தல்கள் தோரணங்களைக் கண்டும் ஏழைகளுக்கு உணவிடும் அன்னசத்திரங்களில் கூச்சமின்றிச் சென்று உணவுண்டும் கோவில்களில் ஒலிக்கும் மந்திர உச்சாடனங்கள், தோத்திர பஜனைகள் கேட்டும் மல்லிகைப் பூக்களினதும் சந்தனக்குச்சிகளினதும் நறுமணங்களை அனுபவித்தும், சர்வ புனிதர்களின் தேவாலய மணியோசைகேட்டும் அங்கு நடைபெறும் திருப்பலிப் பூசையில் பங்குத்தந்தை வணக்கத்திற்குரிய ஹேரத் அவர்களுக்குத் திருப்பணிசெய்துமிருகிக்கிறேன்.

ஆனால் 1975 இல் நான் இலங்கையை விட்டு வெளியேறிய நாளில் இருந்து வேதனையும் துன்பமும் கொடூரமுமே அங்கே மிஞ்சின. வழக்கமாக நன்செய் நிலங்களின் நெல்வயல்களுக்கு தன் புனித நீர் பாச்சிய வலிய ஜீவநதி மகாவலி கங்கையில் சிங்கள மக்களினதும் தமிழ் மக்களினதும் செங்குருதியோடியது. என் முந்தையோர் வாழ்ந்து மடிந்த தாய் நிலம் சுவர்க்கத்தில் இருந்து நரகத்தின் அதல பாதாளத்தில் வீழ்வதை அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய ராச்சியத்தில் இங்கிருந்தபடி கண்ணுற வேண்டியவனானேன். இதற்கு யாரை நோவதென்று எவரும் அறுதியிட்டுச் சொல்லமுடியாதுள்ளது.அன்றியும் நொந்து குற்றங்காண்பற்கான காலமும் என்றோ கடந்துவிட்டது.
மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே, நீங்களோ துட்ட கைமுனுவின் பரம்பரை. என் மக்கள் எல்லாளன் பரம்பரை. கந்துல என்ற தன் யானையில் இருந்து துட்ட கைமுனு எவ்வாறு எல்லாளனுடன் சண்டையிட்டு அவனைக் கொன்றான் என்பதை எண்ணிப்பாருங்கள். முதன் முதலில் அய்க்கிய இலங்கையொன்றினை உருவாகியதற்காக நிச்சயமாக துட்ட கைமுனு இன்றும் நினைவுகூரப்படுகின்றான். ஆனால் அவன் வேறொன்றுக்குமாகவும் நினைவுகொள்ளப்படுகின்றான். எல்லாளனைத் தோற்கடித்து அவனைக் கொன்றபின் அந்தச் சிறப்புமிக்க எதிரி எல்லாளனை மதித்து நினைவுச் சின்னம் எழுப்பியவன் அவன். அதன் முன்னே நாட்டு மக்கள் அனைவரும் நின்று சிரந்தாழ்த்தி மதிப்பளிக்க வேண்டுமென்று சட்டம் பிறப்பித்தவன். அதன் மூலம் தான் பெருங்கண்ணியவான் மட்டுமல்ல சிறந்த அரசியல் சாணக்கியன் என்பதயும் நிரூபித்துக் காட்டினான். எல்லாளனைத் தோற்கடித்தபின் தமிழர்களையும் தானே ஆளவேண்டுமென்பதை அவன் தெளிந்தே வைத்திருந்தான்.
மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே, வாய்ப்பும் விதியும் மற்றும் உங்களது மாபெரும் அரசியல் ஆளுமையும் வரலாற்றில் ஒர் தனித்துவமான இடத்திற்கு உங்களைக் கொண்டு சென்றிருக்கின்றது. முன்னே பலபேர் முறியடிக்க முயன்று தோற்ற 25 ஆண்டுகால அரசியற் கிளர்ச்சியினை இறுதியில் அடக்கியவன் மகிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ என்ற பெயருடைய மகாவீரன் என்று இனிவரும் எதிர்காலச் சிறார்கள் சரித்திர நூல்களில் தங்களது பாடம் படிப்பார்கள். 21 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் துட்ட கைமுனு என்று அவர்கள் உங்களைச் சொல்லக்கூடும். ஆனால் மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே துட்டகைமுனுவின் அதே மேலாடையை நீங்கள் போர்த்திக்கொள்ள விரும்பினால் நீங்களும் நினைவுச் சின்னம் எழுப்ப வேண்டும். அது டகோபாவாகவோ அல்லது வேறெந்தத் தூபிகளாகவோ அல்லாது நிறைவேற்றுச் சட்டவலுவுள்ள புதிய கொள்கையொன்றாக இருக்க வேண்டும். 58 ஆம் ஆண்டு இனக்கலவரத்தை மூட்டிய அதே தவறினை நீங்களும் செய்யவேண்டாம். பல்கலைக் கழகம் செல்ல நினைக்கும் தமிழ் இளைஞர்களை இனியும் தடுத்துவிட வேண்டாம். தமிழர்கள் தாம் இந்த நாட்டில் இரண்டாந்தரக் குடிமக்களாக எண்ணிக்கொண்டிருக்க இடந்தர வேண்டாம். அவர்களது மத நம்பிக்கையினைப் புண்படுத்தாது அவர்களது மொழியினை மதித்து நடவுங்கள். மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே தமிழர்களைப் பற்றித் தெரிந்துகொள்ள வேண்டிய சிலவற்றை நான் உங்களுக்குச் சொல்லவேண்டும். அவர்களுக்கு அவர்களது மொழி வழிபடும் தெய்வம். உலகில் அவ்வாறு தம் மொழியை வழிபடும் கலாசாரங்கங்கள் மிகச் சிலவே. நீங்கள் ஒரு சட்டத்தரணியாகப் பயிற்றப்பட்டவர். உங்கள் ஆரம்பகாலத்தில் நீங்கள் ஒரு கடும் மனித உரிமைப் பாதுகாவலனாக கீர்த்தி பெற்றிருந்தீர்கள். இப்போது உங்களுக்குப் பேரும் புகழும் வந்துவிட்டது. படைநடத்திச்சென்று சமராடி ரோமாபுரிக்குத் திரும்பிவரும் ஜூலிய சீசரைப் போல அதிகாரம் படைத்த மகாவீரனாகிவிட்டீர்கள். நீங்கள் கேட்பதை மறுப்பவர் இல்லை. சட்டக் கல்லூரியில் படித்தபோது நீங்களும் நானும் கற்றுக்கொண்ட சோல்பரி அரசியல் யாப்பின் நீக்கப்பட்ட சரத்துக்களை மீண்டும் அங்கீகரிக்குமாறு பாராளுமன்றத்திடம் கேளுங்கள். என் உதவி வேண்டுமானால் இங்கே குழுமியிருக்கும் அனேகரைப்போல் நானும் இலவசமாகவே அதனைச் செய்து தருவேன். தங்களுக்கென்றொரு இடமிருக்கின்றது என்று நீங்கள் உறுதிமொழி சொல்வீர்கள் என்று தமிழர்கள் ஏதிலிகளாக உங்களிடம் எதிர்பார்த்து நிற்கின்றனர். 'உங்களுக்கு அந்த இடம் இருக்கின்றது' என்பதை அவர்களுக்கு நீங்கள் உறுதிசெய்யுங்கள். ஒரு பிரபாகரனைக் கொன்றீர்கள். அப்படி இன்னொருவன் வளர இடம்வைக்கக்கூடாது. இன்னொருவன் தோன்றுவதை முற்காத்துக் கொள்ள வாளோடும் துப்பாக்கியோடும் உங்களால் முடியாது. மனதாலும் மகத்தான அறிவாலும் மட்டுமே அதனைத் தடுக்க முடியும். புத்தரிடமிருந்து கற்றுக்கொண்ட கருணை, உண்மை, நீதி என்ற ஆயுதங்கள் மட்டுமே அதற்குத் தேவை. தம்மபதத்தில் புத்தர்
„பகைமையைப் பகைமையால் ஒருபோதும் அழிக்கமுடியாது. அன்பினால் மட்டுமே பகமையை இல்லாதொழிக்கலாம் என்பது ஒரு புராதன நியதி.“ என்று சொல்லியிருக்கின்றார்.

மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே நீங்கள் இந்த அழகிய மாநகரைவிட்டு இலங்கைக்குத் திரும்பிச் செல்லும்போது, நாளை தன் பாடசாலைக்குச் செல்லும் பத்துவயதுச் சிறுவனின் வெள்ளைச் சட்டையின் சிவப்புக்கறை ஜம்புப்பழத்தின் கொட்டையால் அன்றி வேறொன்றாலுமில்லை என்பதையும், காலையின் காக்கையொன்று அங்கே கொத்திக் கிழிக்கப்போவது பலாப்பழத்தைத் தவிர வேறொன்றுமில்லை என்பதையும் வேப்பமரத்தில் தொங்குவது நான் முகர்ந்த வேப்பம் பழங்களல்லாது வேறொன்றுமில்லை என்பதையும் எனக்குச் சத்தியம் செய்து தாருங்கள். மேன்மைதங்கிய ஜனாதிபதி அவர்களே எங்களை மீண்டும் சுவர்கத்திற்கு கூட்டிச் செல்லுங்கள்!
எங்களை மீண்டும் சுவர்கத்திற்கு கூட்டிச் செல்லுங்கள்!

(தமிழில்: ந. சுசீந்திரன்)

We Regret To Inform You That Your Condolences Cannot Be Accepted At This Time

2010-05-22T09:22:00.009+02:00

We Regret To Inform You That Your Condolences Cannot Be Accepted At This Time

by V.V. Ganeshananthan

We regret to inform you that your condolences cannot be accepted at this time. At present, both our pain and our hope defy that word, which has been offered and denied us, which we need and do not need, and which in any case we cannot accept, because they (your condolences) will not reach from what has happened to what will come.
We find the word condolences stunning in its insufficiency for past and future.
We evacuated our homes in the light; we vanished from our homes in the dark; we walked away from our families, toward the weapons, and wished that we could turn around. Our bodies entered the earth in places we cannot now identify, and so we are everywhere, blown to dust. By both dying in and surviving this place, we will live here long after your condolences become a ghost in your throat.
We joined others’ battles, willingly and unwillingly; we walked forward on paths not our own when the paths we would have chosen were closed to us. We were incidental; we were vital; we were enemies; we were friends; we were disputed; we were uncounted. In a small country, we felt far away from you. In a small world, we felt far away from you. We were your people and not your people.
We could not wait for you to remember us.

We perished and survived and were less and also more for it. Some of us had little money and little food; we had children. We lost our children willingly and unwillingly. They were torn from our hands; we fought to keep them with us; we pushed them away from us to save them; we held them close in the hope that we might take their bullets and thereby die before them.
Some of us did, but some of us lived, and so the memory of this will outlast even the children we fought to save.
In the rush to escape this bloodletting, which has been its own kind of war, our ears fell to the ground, and so we cannot now hear your condolences. To survive, we had to shut our eyes, with which we would have seen what was in yours. We closed our mouths against hunger and anger; we knew and did not know our families, friends, fellows, and leaders, who hunted us, ran with us, and died with us.

We faced ourselves from all sides. Some of us lived. We are still here. We regret to inform you that your condolences cannot be accepted at this time.

உங்கள் நினைவஞ்சலிகள் தற்போது ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட மாட்டாது என்று தெரிவிப்பதற்காக வருந்துகிறோம்

வி.வி.கணேசானந்தன்

உங்கள் நினைவஞ்சலிகள் தற்போது ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட மாட்டாது என்பதை உங்களுக்குத் தெரிவிப்பதற்காக வருந்துகிறோம். இப்போதைய சூழலில் எங்கள் வலி, நம்பிக்கை இரண்டுமே உங்கள் இரங்கலை எதிர்த்து நிற்கின்றன. எங்களுக்கு வழங்கப்பட்டதும் மறுக்கப்பட்டதுமான, எங்களுக்கு தேவைப்படுவதும், தேவைப்படாததுமான உஙகளின் இரங்கல் செய்திகளை எக்காரணத்தை முன்னிட்டும் நாங்கள் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப் போவதில்லை. ஏனெனில் நடந்தவற்றையோ, நடக்கவிருப்பவற்றையோ அவை எதுவும் செய்யப்போவதில்லை.

எங்களின் இறந்தகாலத்தையும் எதிர்காலத்தையும் விளக்கவல்ல ஆற்றல் இரங்கலுக்குக் கிடையாததால், ‘நினைவஞ்சலி’ என்ற சொல் எங்களுக்கு அதிர்ச்சியை ஊட்டுகிறது.
வெளிச்சத்தில் நாங்கள் எங்கள் இல்லங்களை விட்டு வெளியேறினோம்; இருளில் எங்கள் இல்லங்களிலிருந்து மறைந்து போனோம்; வாழ்க்கைப் பாதை மாறுமென்ற நம்பிக்கையில் எங்கள் குடும்பங்களை விட்டுத் தூர வெளியேறி ஆயுதங்களை நோக்கி நடந்தோம்; தற்போது பூமியில் நாங்களே கண்டறிய முடியாத இடங்களுக்குள் எங்கள் உடல்கள் நுழைந்ததால் வெடித்துச் சிதறி துகள் துகளாய் எல்லா இடங்களிலும் பரவியிருக்கிறோம். இங்கே நாங்கள் செத்துக்கொண்டும், உயிரோடும் இருப்பதால் உங்கள் தொண்டைக்குழிக்குள் பேயாக சிக்கிக்கொண்டு வெளிப்படாமலிருக்கும் உங்கள் இரங்கல் வார்த்தைகளுக்குப் பின்னும் நாங்கள் வாழ்வோம்.

விரும்பியும் விரும்பாமலும் அடுத்தவர்களின் போர்களில் நாங்களும் இணைந்தோம்; நாங்கள் செல்ல வேண்டிய பாதை மிக அருகிலிருந்த போதும் அடுத்தவர்களின் பாதையில் முன்னேறி நடந்தோம்; நாங்கள் உதிரிகளாய் இருந்தோம்; முக்கியமானவர்களாய் இருந்தோம்; நாஙகள் நண்பர்களாய் இருந்தோம்; பகைவர்களாய் இருந்தோம்; நாங்கள் பிரச்சினைக்குரியவர்களாய் இருந்தோம்; எண்ணிக்கையிலடங்காதவர்களாய் இருந்தோம்; இச்சிறிய நாட்டில் நாங்கள் உங்களிடமிருந்து வெகுதொலைவாய் உணர்ந்தோம்; இச்சிறிய உலகில் நாங்கள் உங்களிடமிருந்து வெகுதொலைவாய் உணர்ந்தோம்; உங்கள் மக்கள் நாங்கள்; உங்கள் மக்களல்லாதவரும் நாங்கள்.

நீங்கள் எங்களை நினைவுகூர்வீர்கள் என்று உங்களுக்காக காத்திருக்க முடியாது
நாங்கள் அழிந்தோம்; வாழ்ந்தோம்; அழிவதற்கும் வாழ்வதற்கும் நாங்கள் எண்ணிக்கையில் குறைவானவர்கள், அழிவதற்கும் வாழ்வதற்கும் அதிகமானோரும் நாங்கள். எங்களில் சிலருக்கு குறைவான பணமும், குறைவான உணவும் இருந்தது; எங்களுக்கு பிள்ளைகள் இருந்தனர்; விரும்பியும் விரும்பாமலும் எங்கள் பிள்ளைகளை இழந்தோம்; எங்கள் கரங்களிலிருந்து அவர்கள் கிழித்து எடுத்துச்செல்லப்பட்டார்கள்; அவர்கள் எங்களோடிருக்க நாங்கள் போராடினோம்; அவர்களைக் காப்பாற்ற எஙகளிடமிருந்து பிரித்து எறிந்தோம்; அவர்களை நோக்கிய துப்பாக்கிக் குண்டுகளை எங்கள் உடலில் தாங்கி அவர்களுக்கு முன்பாக மரித்துப்போக எண்ணி அவர்களை எங்களின் பிடிக்குள் வைத்திருந்தோம்.
எங்களில் சிலர் மரித்தோம்; ஆனால் எங்களில் சிலர் வாழ்ந்தோம்; எந்த பிள்ளைகளை காப்பாற்ற நாங்கள் போராடினோமோ அவர்களின் காலத்திற்குப்பிறகும் அந்த நினைவுகள் எங்களுடன் வாழ்ந்தது..

போர் எனப்படும் இந்த ரத்தவெள்ளத்திலிருந்து வெளியேறும் வேகத்தில் எங்கள் செவிகள் நிலத்தில் வீழ்ந்துவிட்டன. எனவே உங்கள் இரங்கலை நாங்கள் செவிமடுக்க முடியாது. எங்கள் இருத்தல் நிமித்தம், எங்கள் விழிகளையும் மூடிக்கொள்ள நேர்ந்ததால் உங்களுக்குள் என்னவிருக்கிறது என்பதயும் காண இயலவில்லை. பசியினாலும் கோபத்தாலும் எங்கள் வாயையும் மூடிக்கொண்டோம். எங்கள் குடும்பங்களைப்பற்றி, நண்பர்களைப்பற்றி, தோழர்களைப்பற்றி, எங்களை வேட்டையாடிய, எங்களோடு ஓடிவந்த, எஙகளோடு மடிந்த தலைவர்களைப் பற்றி எங்களுக்குத் தெரிந்திருந்தது; தெரியாமலுமிருந்தது.
எல்லா திசைகளுக்கும் நாங்கள் முகங்கொடுத்தோம். எங்களில் சிலர் வாழ்ந்தோம். இன்னும் நாங்கள் இருக்கிறோம். உங்கள் இரங்கல் செய்திகள் தற்போது ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட மாட்டாது என்பதை உங்களுக்குத் தெரிவிப்பதற்கு வருந்துகிறோம்.

தமிழில் : கவின் மலர்

(இத் தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு கவின் மலர் அவர்களின் இணையத் தளத்தில் இருந்து வெட்டி ஒட்டப்பட்டது. நன்றி)

Sri Lanka: New Evidence of Wartime Abuses

2010-05-21T19:41:00.011+02:00

source/courtesy:

Government Inquiry Inadequate; UN Should Establish International Investigation

[Readers are warned the photograph reproduced here end of the news below or the photographs you download from following link are distressing: A member of the LTTE apparently captured by the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade. In subsequent photos (downloadable via links below), the man appears to be dead, raising concerns that he might have been executed in custody.]

Photographic evidence: Five photos taken on the front lines in early 2009

(New York) - New evidence of wartime abuses by Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the armed conflict that ended one year ago demonstrates the need for an independent international investigation into violations of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Recently Human Rights Watch research gathered photographic evidence and accounts by witnesses of atrocities by both sides during the final months of fighting.

On May 23, 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the government would investigate allegations of laws-of-war violations. One year later, the government has still not undertaken any meaningful investigatory steps, Human Rights Watch said.

Last week, the government created a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission with a mandate to examine the failure of the 2002 ceasefire and the "sequence of events" thereafter. It is not empowered to investigate allegations of violations of the laws of war such as those documented by Human Rights Watch.

"Yet another feckless commission is a grossly inadequate response to the numerous credible allegations of war crimes," said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Damning new evidence of abuses shows why the UN should not let Sri Lanka sweep these abuses under the carpet."

Human Rights Watch called on Secretary-General Ban to promptly establish an international investigation to examine allegations of wartime abuse by both sides to the conflict.

New Evidence of Wartime Violations

Human Rights Watch has examined more than 200 photos taken on the front lines in early 2009 by a soldier from the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade. Among these are a series of five photos showing a man who appears to have been captured by the Sri Lankan army. An independent source identified the man by name and told Human Rights Watch that he was a long-term member of the LTTE's political wing from Jaffna.

The first two photos show the man alive, with blood on his face and torso, tied to a palm tree. He is surrounded by several men wearing military fatigues, one brandishing a knife close to his face. In the next three photos, the man is lying - apparently dead - against a rock. His head is being held up, he is partly covered in the flag of Tamil Eelam, and there is more blood on his face and upper body.

A forensic expert who reviewed the photos told Human Rights Watch that the latter three photos show material on the man's neck consistent in color with brain matter, "which would indicate an injury to the back of his head, as nothing is visible which would cause this on his face. This would indicate severe trauma to the back of the head consistent with something like a gunshot wound or massive blows to the back of the head with something such as a machete or ax."

While Human Rights Watch cannot conclusively determine that the man was summarily executed in custody, the available evidence indicates that a full investigation is warranted.

Several of the photos also show what appear to be dead women in LTTE uniforms with their shirts pulled up and their pants pulled down, raising concerns that they might have been sexually abused or their corpses mutilated. Again, such evidence is not conclusive but shows the need for an investigation.

The new accounts by witnesses described indiscriminate shelling of large gatherings of civilians during the last weeks of fighting, apparently by government forces. In addition to an incident on April 8, 2009, previously reported, witnesses told Human Rights Watch about three other incidents in late April and early May 2009 of government forces shelling civilians, mainly women and children, who were standing in food distribution lines. The witnesses also described LTTE recruitment of children and LTTE attacks on civilians attempting to escape the war zone.

Government's Failure to Investigate Abuses

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission created on May 17, 2010 is the latest in a long line of ad hoc bodies in Sri Lanka that seem designed to deflect international criticism rather than to uncover the facts. The mandated focus of the commission - on the failure of the 2002 ceasefire - is largely unrelated to the massive abuses by both government forces and the LTTE in the last months of hostilities. Nor does the commission appear to have been designed to uncover new information: the commission's terms of reference do not provide for adequate victim and witness protection.

The government-appointed chairman of the commission, Chitta Ranjan de Silva, is a former attorney general who came under serious criticism for his office's alleged interference in the work of the 2006 Presidential Commission of Inquiry. The attorney general's role was one of the main reasons why a group of 10 international experts, the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), withdrew from monitoring the commission's work. The IIGEP stated that it had "not been able to conclude...that the proceedings of the Commission have been transparent or have satisfied basic international norms and standards."

"De Silva was the architect and enforcer of the attorney general's conflict of interest role with respect to the 2006 commission," said Arthur Dewey, former US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and member of the IIGEP. "Nothing good for human rights or reconciliation is likely to come from anything in which De Silva is involved."

The government has also yet to publish the findings from a committee established in November 2009 to examine allegations of laws-of-war violations set out in a report produced last year by the US State Department, despite an April 2010 deadline.

Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing ad hoc commissions to deflect international criticism over its poor human rights record and widespread impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established at least nine such commissions, none of which have produced any significant results.

On March 5, Secretary-General Ban told President Rajapaksa that he had decided to appoint a UN panel of experts to advise him on next steps for accountability in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government responded by attacking Ban for interfering in domestic affairs, calling the panel "unwarranted" and "uncalled for." Two months later, Ban has yet to appoint any members to his panel.

"Ban's inaction is sending a signal to abusers that simply announcing meaningless commissions and making loud noises can block all efforts for real justice," Pearson said. "The only way to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka is to establish an independent international investigation."

Readers are warned the photograph reproduced below is distressing

Photographic evidence: Five photos taken on the front lines in early 2009

[Readers are warned the photograph reproduced above is distressing: A member of the LTTE apparently captured by the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade. In subsequent photos (downloadable via links below), the man appears to be dead, raising concerns that he might have been executed in custody.]

Click here to download or open the photographic evidence: Five photos taken on the front lines in early 2009

An open letter to Defence Secretary from an ordinary citizen.

2010-05-19T18:57:00.007+02:00

The Island, Colombo, 19 May 2010

It is with dismay that I read the news report on the front page of The Island of Thursday, May 6th, titled’ ‘TRAITORS SHOULD BE GIVEN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT’, with an inset that ‘Defence Secretary Rajapaksa says the LTTE rump is exploring every avenue to avenge Prabhakaran’s killing on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon last May’.

According to that report, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya says anyone seeking to undermine Sri Lanka’s sovereignty should be regarded as a traitor. It will be a grave blunder on the government’s part for the so-called international community to interfere in Sri Lanka, he says. The Defence Secretary says that any Sri Lankan promoting an agenda that is detrimental to the country is nothing but a traitor who should be ready to face the consequences…….. traitors deserved capital punishment and no one should shed crocodile tears over them."

If he will pardon my saying so, too often, the Defence Secretary seems to speak impulsively not calmly issuing reasoned and well-balanced pronouncements. Some of us ordinary citizens are often left to wonder and feel perturbed at the attitudes that are promoted. All of us are mindful of the debt we owe the President and his brother the Defence Secretary, and even more to the former Army Commander, Gen. Sarath Fonseka and his men, for bringing the long drawn-out and ruinous war to an end. We can understand – even if we don’t go along with it – the triumphalism that prevailed when victory was finally wrested from the LTTE. But is it necessary to demonise the enemy? A Palestinian peace-maker named Ali Abu Awward observed, in the course of a meeting of 135 Israeli and Palestinian artistes to express the benefits of reconciliation, "Everybody wants to see the other side as a devil, to excuse their own behaviour against him, because if we saw him as a human there is a payment, there is a price, and nobody wants to pay the price".

Thankfully, the war is over. Now is the time for genuine moves towards peace and reconciliation and efforts to bridge the polarization that has taken place between Tamil-speaking and Sinhala-speaking Sri Lankans. Constant fulminations against possible attempts on the part of unnamed, nebulous sources abroad, and against any group or individual who is at all critical of the government may seem like red herrings to distract the people from the realities of our situation here, notably the rising COL, now that the elections are over. It is the talk of ‘Patriots’ and ‘Traitors’, of "those who are for us or against us," that troubles me. The definition and wide interpretation of the term ‘traitor’ seems to emanate from a few strident voices and since the popular feeling is that these voices have the backing of the government, a fear psychosis which began quite some time ago, has almost paralysed thinking people to the extent that they fear to raise a moderate tone and a reasoned criticism of any sort, publicly. The handful of courageous journalists and writers who still dare to speak out openly and honestly, have sometimes deplored "the silence of the good people". That silence indicates that most people feel cowed and they will not risk any public utterance that might be interpreted by the powers-that-be and their supporters as treasonable.

Increasingly, the impression created is that the government will not allow any dissent and that we must all be ‘yes’ men and women and forever hold our tongues – whatever the provocation – if we wish to survive in the present climate. There are many things that raise concern and at risk of being called a traitor. I’d like to ask the Defence Secretary a question regarding one such issue that disturbs me. It’s about those cemeteries in the North where the LTTE honoured their dead. Did you concur, Mr. Defence Secretary, with the decision to bulldoze those LTTE cemeteries? I visited Gettysburg in 2008 and I was more than ever moved to admiration of that great US President and rare human being, Abraham Lincoln, when I saw how the graves and monuments of the Confederate dead had been allowed to remain side by side in the hallowed ground which also bears testimony to those of the Union Army who perished in battle.

"Hatred cannot be overcome by hatred," said the Buddha. We can do no better at this point in time than to enshrine in our hearts the concluding sentences of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural speech: "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Anne Abayasekara

Negotiation: Getting to “Yes”

2010-05-19T11:11:00.003+02:00

Negotiation: Getting to “Yes”

Charles Sarvan

“People tend to see what they want to see. Out of a mass of detailed information, they tend to pick out and focus on those facts that confirm their prior perceptions and to disregard or misinterpret those that call their perceptions into question. Each side in a negotiation may see only the merits of its case, and only the faults of the other side’s. The ability to see the situation as the other side sees it [...] is one of the most important skills a negotiator can possess. It is not enough to know that they see things differently [...] you also need to understand empathetically the power of their point of view and to feel the emotional force with which they believe in it”
(Roger Fisher et al, ‘Getting to Yes’, Arrow Books, London, 1992, p. 23)

Fisher describes three different types of negotiation. In ‘soft negotiation’ the participant changes her or his position, and makes offers with the belief that the goal is agreement. However, such an attitude can leave one feeling exploited, taken advantage of, and bitter. In ‘hard negotiation’, participants are distrustful adversaries. The goal is victory, and negotiation becomes a contest of wills where one takes an extreme and inflexible position, “digs in” and makes threats. The third, ‘principled negotiation’ (developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project), seeks “to obtain what you are entitled to and still be decent” (p. xiv).
Among the aspects the book emphasises are the separation of individuals from the problem and, secondly, the focussing, not on the “position” overtly adopted but on (often unexpressed) “interests”. Human beings are creatures of strong emotion, emotions which become entangled with the objective merits of the problem. If others have deeply held values and convictions, remember: so do you (p. 19). The purpose of negotiation should not become one of scoring points, confirming negative impressions, and apportioning blame (ibid). Blaming others for the problem is counterproductive: attacked, the other side becomes defensive; being defensive, they counter-attack by counter-blaming. Rather than only defending your case, invite criticism, and be ready to seriously examine your own case (p. 116).
The challenge is to reconcile not “positions” but “interests”. In “interests”, Fisher includes not only underlying concerns and causes but also wishes – and fears. Positions cloud and distract from interests, from “each side’s needs, desires, concerns and fears” (p. 42). After the Six Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the whole of the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt’s “position” was that, after centuries of domination by Greece, Rome, Turkey, France and Britain, the Sinai was again Egyptian, and every inch should be returned. Though Israel’s “position” was that a part should remain under its control, the real “interest” (in this case, concern), was that Egyptian armour should not be right on its border, able to launch another sudden attack. By looking behind “position” to “interest”, a solution was found: Egypt would resume sovereignty but observe, in practice, a de-militarised zone.
Nadesan Satyendra, in his now discontinued site, lists Sinhalese “interests”, among them that Tamil Eelam will be a first step towards a pan-Tamil state including Tamil Naadu, and that Tamil Eelam will threaten the existence of the Sinhalese Buddhist nation. These concerns were seen as irrational or as mere excuses for rejection and continued ethnic domination: they were not taken seriously by Tamil leaders, discussed and fears allayed. As for the Tamil position, it changed with time and political-historical developments but the fundamental concern and wish, the “interest”, remained the same: justice and recognition, equality and dignity. What immediately follows is taken from my essay, Reign of Anomy (the title adapted from Soyinka’s Season of Anomy:
It is well to remind ourselves that when, in 1925-6, Mr S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, as leader of the Progressive National Party, set out the case for a federal political structure for Sri Lanka and made this the main plank of the political platform of his party, he received no support for it from the Tamils: see, K. M. P. De Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 513. In the 1930s, the Jaffna Youth Congress rejected federalism and, what is more, persuaded almost all the leading schools in Jaffna to teach Sinhala as a compulsory subject. As A E Jayasuriya observed, “At a time when the Sinhalese were prepared to do without Sinhala, the battle for Sinhala and Tamil was fought by Tamil leaders” : see, D Nesiah, Tamil Nationalism, Marga Institute, Colombo, 2001, p. 12. In 1952, the Kankesuntharai parliamentary seat was contested by Chelvanayagam as a member of the Federal Party: he was comfortably defeated by a U.N.P. candidate. Even after the trauma of Standardisation (“racial” quota) in relation to University admission beginning in 1971, and the Draft Constitution of 1972, the All Ceylon Tamil Conference declared, “Our children and our children’s children should be able to say, with one voice, Lanka is our great motherland, and we are one people from shore to shore. We speak two noble languages, but with one voice” (Nesiah, p. 14).
Subsequent “positions” adopted (including the extreme one, somewhat similar to Moses in the Old Testament, vis-a-vis Pharaoh and bondage: “Let me people go”) obscured Tamil “interests”, that is, Tamil concerns, wishes and aspiration: a misunderstanding that has caused horrendous damage and terrible tragedy.
Criteria employed in negotiation must be objective, internationally accepted and independent of both sides. Groups should not insist on the principle of self-determination “as a fundamental right but deny its applicability to those on the other side” (p. 89) Here, a third-party, acceptable to both sides, could play a positive role. Attempts to dominate “threaten a relationship; principled negotiation protects it” (p. 86). The more standards of fairness are brought in, the better and more durable the “final package” will be (ibid). Those who are going to be affected must be involved in discussion, policy and process. Otherwise, they will not approve of the result (p. 27). “We” of the more powerful group, are going to figure out how to solve your problem (p. 28) - a problem created by us in the first place.
Fisher observes that, ultimately, conflict does not lie in some objective reality but in people’s minds (p. 23). Difference exists because it exists in the mind. In other words, the mind does not see an already existing difference – the mind creates the difference. Perhaps, this can be modified to read: What makes the difference is not difference per se (be it language, “race”, skin-colour and / or religion) but the value, importance, significance that we, human beings, attach to that difference. There’s many a “No” and “But” on the way to a mutually agreed, harmonious and happy, “Yes”, but result and reward make the effort worthwhile; indeed, imperative.

War Crimes in Sri Lanka

2010-05-17T14:44:00.003+02:00

Full report as pdf file (54 pages)

War Crimes in Sri Lanka

Asia Report N°191 17 May 2010

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repeatedly violated international humanitarian law during the last five months of their 30-year civil war. Although both sides committed atrocities throughout the many years of conflict, the scale and nature of violations particularly worsened from January 2009 to the government’s declaration of victory in May. Evidence gathered by the International Crisis Group suggests that these months saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilian men, women, children and the elderly killed, countless more wounded, and hundreds of thousands deprived of adequate food and medical care, resulting in more deaths.

This evidence also provides reasonable grounds to believe the Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes with top government and military leaders potentially responsible. There is evidence of war crimes committed by the LTTE and its leaders as well, but most of them were killed and will never face justice. An international inquiry into alleged crimes is essential given the absence of political will or capacity for genuine domestic investigations, the need for an accounting to address the grievances that drive conflict in Sri Lanka, and the potential of other governments adopting the Sri Lankan model of counter-insurgency in their own internal conflicts.

Crisis Group possesses credible evidence that is sufficient to warrant an independent international investigation of the following allegations:

* The intentional shelling of civilians. Starting in late January, the government and security forces encouraged hundreds of thousands of civilians to move into ever smaller government-declared No Fire Zones (NFZs) and then subjected them to repeated and increasingly intense artillery and mortar barrages and other fire. This continued through May despite the government and security forces knowing the size and location of the civilian population and scale of civilian casualties.
* The intentional shelling of hospitals. The security forces shelled hospitals and makeshift medical centres – many overflowing with the wounded and sick – on multiple occasions even though they knew of their precise locations and functions. During these incidents, medical staff, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and others continually informed the government and security forces of the shelling, yet they continued to strike medical facilities through May forcing civilians to abandon them.
* The intentional shelling of humanitarian operations. Despite knowing the exact location of humanitarian operations and food distribution points, the security forces repeatedly shelled these areas, which were crowded with humanitarian workers, vehicles and supplies, and civilians. Many were killed or wounded trying to deliver or receive basic humanitarian assistance, including women, children and infants.

The consequences of the security forces’ shelling were made substantially worse by the government’s obstruction of food and medical treatment for the civilian population, including by knowingly claiming the civilian population was less than one third its actual size and denying adequate supplies.

The government declined to respond to Crisis Group’s request for comment on these allegations.

There is also strong evidence that the LTTE engaged in:

* The intentional shooting of civilians. The LTTE fired on and killed or wounded many civilians in the conflict zone who were attempting to flee the shelling and cross into government-controlled areas.
* The intentional infliction of suffering on civilians. The LTTE refused to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone, despite grave danger from shelling and lack of humanitarian supplies, even when the civilians were injured and dying. The LTTE also forcibly recruited many civilians to fight or serve as labourers and beat some family members who protested the recruitment.

The substantial body of evidence collected by Crisis Group since August 2009 offers a compelling case for investigation of the conduct of hostilities and the role of the military and political leadership on both sides. It consists of numerous eyewitness statements that Crisis Group has taken and considers to be reliable as well as hundreds of photographs, video, satellite images, electronic communications and documents from multiple credible sources. But it covers only a small number of the violations allegedly committed and is but a first step in what should be a major effort to examine the last year of the war. Among the other allegations that should be investigated are the recruitment of children by the LTTE and the execution by the security forces of those who had laid down their arms and were trying to surrender.

Much of the international community turned a blind eye to the violations when they were happening. Some issued statements calling for restraint but took no action as the government continually denied any wrongdoing. Many countries had declared the LTTE terrorists and welcomed their defeat. They encouraged the government’s tough response while failing to press for political reforms to address Tamil grievances or for any improvement in human rights. The eventual destruction of the LTTE militarily came at the cost of immense civilian suffering and an acute challenge to the laws of war. It also undermined the credibility of the United Nations and further entrenched a bitterness among Tamils in Sri Lanka and elsewhere which may make a durable peace elusive. Now a number of other countries are considering “the Sri Lankan option” – unrestrained military action, refusal to negotiate, disregard for humanitarian issues – as a way to deal with insurgencies and other violent groups.

To recover from this damage, there must be a concerted effort to investigate alleged war crimes by both sides and prosecute those responsible. Sri Lanka is not a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the UN Security Council is not likely to refer these crimes to the ICC in the short term. While some of the LTTE may go on trial in Sri Lanka, it is virtually impossible that any domestic investigation into the government or security forces would be impartial given the entrenched culture of impunity. A UN-mandated international inquiry should be the priority, and those countries that have jurisdiction over alleged crimes – including countries such as the U.S. where dual nationals or residents may be suspected – should vigorously pursue investigations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Government of Sri Lanka:

1. Cooperate fully with international efforts to investigate alleged war crimes, including a UN-mandated international inquiry, guaranteeing free access to the conflict area and effective protection of witnesses.

2. Try LTTE cadres suspected of war crimes in open court, allowing them and witnesses against them full protections required by international law and permitting international oversight, or release them if there is insufficient evidence.

3. Invite the UN special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, torture, violence against women, the right to food, the right to health, the protection of human rights while countering terrorism and the situation of human rights defenders, and the special representatives on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and on children and armed conflict, to visit Sri Lanka to investigate the conduct of the last year of hostilities.

4. Compile, with the assistance of the ICRC and/or the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a full and public register of those killed, wounded and missing from the final months of the war, including the circumstances of their death, injury or disappearance; and issue death certificates and provide financial compensation for civilians killed or wounded and for property destroyed or damaged.

5. Provide ICRC with full access to all places of detention, including where LTTE suspects or surrendees are being held, and allow detained individuals full protections under international law.

To the United Nations and Member States:

6. Authorise an independent international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last year of the conflict, tasking it to investigate the conduct of both sides, to complete its work within a reasonably short period and to recommend steps to be taken by national and international authorities to ensure accountability for any crimes.

7. Begin inquiries into attacks on UN assets and personnel and into the conduct of the UN during the last year of the conflict, examining the UN’s September 2008 withdrawal from Kilinochchi through to its ineffectual attempts to push for a ceasefire and its involvement in Sri Lankan government internment camps.

8. Empower the special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, torture, violence against women, the right to food, the right to health, the protection of human rights while countering terrorism and the situation of human rights defenders, and the special representative on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), to carry out full investigations of the conduct of the last year of hostilities, particularly into alleged extrajudicial executions and torture, and the special representative on children and armed conflict to more completely investigate the recruitment of child soldiers and killing and maiming of children.

9. Make available to any credible efforts to investigate alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka all relevant information within the possession or control of the UN.

10. Ensure that Sri Lankan contributions to UN peacekeeping missions are consistent with universal human rights principles, including by ensuring the systematic pre-deployment screening of Sri Lankan personnel to identify any individuals allegedly involved in war crimes or human rights violations.

To India, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Other EU Member States, Switzerland and Others:

11. Do not extradite LTTE suspects to Sri Lanka unless guarantees of humane treatment and fair trials are in place. Instead prosecute in domestic courts where possible and appropriate.

12. Begin investigations into alleged war crimes or human rights abuses in cases where jurisdiction may exist, including where nationals or residents are allegedly involved. Ensure such investigations have sufficient resources and share evidence in the possession or control of governments, including satellite imagery.

13. Support non-frivolous civil suits by or on behalf of alleged victims of the security forces or the LTTE, including by limiting claims of immunity.

14. Grant asylum or other protected status to witnesses and act to preserve evidence of war crimes, particularly by allowing officials to cooperate with credible investigations.

15. Impose targeted sanctions, including travel restrictions, on Sri Lankan officials and members of their families, unless and until the government cooperates with international efforts to investigate alleged war crimes.

Brussels, 17 May 2010

War Crimes in Sri Lanka

2010-05-17T13:23:00.002+02:00

War Crimes in Sri Lanka
Brussels | 17 May 2010

Newly revealed evidence of war crimes in Sri Lanka last year makes an international inquiry essential.

War Crimes in Sri Lanka , the latest report from the International Crisis Group, exposes repeated violations of international law by both the Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the last five months of their 30-year civil war. That evidence suggests that the period of January to May 2009 saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilian men, women, children and the elderly killed, countless more wounded, and hundreds of thousands deprived of adequate food and medical care, resulting in more deaths.

Released on the eve of the first anniversary of the end of the fighting, the report calls for an international inquiry into alleged crimes. The government has conclusively demonstrated its unwillingness to undertake genuine investigations of security force abuses and continues to deny any responsibility for civilian casualties. A true accounting is needed to address the grievances that drive conflict in Sri Lanka, so the international community must take the lead.

“The scale of civilian deaths and suffering demands a response”, says Crisis Group President Louise Arbour. “Future generations will demand to know what happened, and future peace in Sri Lanka requires some measure of justice.”

Both sides in Sri Lanka’s civil war violated international humanitarian law throughout the decades-long conflict. However the violations became particularly frequent and deadly in the months leading to the government’s declaration of victory over the LTTE in May 2009. Evidence gathered by Crisis Group provides reasonable grounds to believe that government security forces repeatedly and intentionally violated the law by attacking civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations. The government declined to respond to Crisis Group’s request for comment on these allegations. Evidence also shows that the LTTE violated the law by killing, wounding or otherwise endangering civilians, including by shooting them and preventing them from leaving the conflict zone even when injured and dying.

Much of the international community turned a blind eye to the violations when they were happening. Many countries welcomed the LTTE’s defeat regardless of the cost of immense civilian suffering and an acute challenge to the laws of war. The United Nations too readily complied with the government’s demands to withdraw from conflict areas.

The international community has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law, the reputation of international agencies and respect for international humanitarian law, most importantly the protection of civilians lives. Today, a number of other countries are considering “the Sri Lankan option” – unrestrained military action, refusal to negotiate, disregard for humanitarian issues, keeping out international observers including the press and humanitarian workers – as a way to deal with insurgencies and other violent groups.

“An international inquiry is necessary not only for justice and long-term peace in Sri Lanka but also to help prevent a repeat elsewhere”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “It would serve as a warning to other governments that may be considering ‘the Sri Lankan model’ to address their own internal conflicts.”

SRI LANKA: Indigenous insensitivity and the reconciliation commission

2010-05-16T23:16:00.001+02:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-075-2010
May 14, 2010

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

SRI LANKA: Indigenous insensitivity and the reconciliation commission

The BBC Sinhala Service reported today of a press conference held by the Minister of Media, Keheliya Rambukwella. At this press conference he was questioned on the announcement by the government about a commission for reconciliation and lessons learned. He was questioned as to whether the commission will be something like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa.

The Minister's answer was that the South African experience and the bringing of Norway as mediators and the like are all alien experiences to Sri Lanka. He said that, in this particular instance, the government will look to an indigenous approach, something home grown, something of Sri Lanka's own to the issue of reconciliation and lessons learned in terms of the recent conflict.

As this is the position of the government it is worth examining the indigenous approaches to truth and reconciliation to the Sri Lankan context. From various approaches through government commissions there is overwhelming agreement that all the commissions appointed so far, have failed to address the serious questions that have been affecting Sri Lanka in the conflicts in the recent past. The commissions have been condemned by international organisations such as Amnesty International as well as by local human rights groups who have published extensive reports and analysis on the workings of these commissions.

From the point of view of mandate as well as the selection of the commissioners and the work they have carried out, it is not difficult to form an opinion that these commissions were not meant, first of all to engage in a genuine investigation to find the truth of what has happened, or to address the problems of law and morality concerned. They did not deal with the ways to avoid the possibility of the recurrence of similar incidents in the future.

In fact, all such commissions to date have been exercises of denial. Their purpose was to create confusion in the minds of the people at times when the people are seriously expressing concerns about the problems that are a result of these conflicts such as forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, abuse of power, illegal arrest and detention and many other forms of arbitrary use of power which has caused enormous suffering to the people.

Therefore any repetition of the immediate past in terms of truth and reconciliation would be to repeat the traditions of denial, instead of trying to achieve anything positive. Then we should go back and ask as to whether there are / local traditions of truth telling in the midst of conflicts. I think it is not difficult at all to answer that question.

Sri Lanka's ancient tradition is set on a caste based social structure. The political scientist and the sociologist all agree that the centuries of social organisation of Sri Lanka was based on the hierarchical model of caste. Caste does not recognise the equality of human beings and is based on the legal premise of disproportionate punishment for different categories of persons. While any crime against the upper layer is considered the most heinous, any violence to the lower layers of society are not considered crimes at all. Such was the caste doctrines in India and such was the doctrines that have been deeply entrenched in the Sri Lankan psyche. The country does not have tradition of truth telling and seeking reconciliation after periods of crises.

Some may argue that the religion of Sri Lanka is Buddhist and Buddhism has a rich tradition of truth and reconciliation. That Buddhism has that tradition is undeniable. It is one of the greatest traditions in terms of seeking truth and reconciliation.

However, this is not the living tradition of Sri Lanka in terms of social relationships. Even the monks themselves are divided into castes and the deeply entrenched tradition of cast remains in the Sinhala and Tamil communities. Therefore in the living reality of Sri Lanka, there has never been a time since the Polonnaruwa period at least, when there was a tradition truth seeking and reconciliation.

Therefore talking of a commission in indigenous terms is clearly dangerous. The first time this was introduced into the political discussion in Sri Lanka was in the 1972 Constitution and it was called an autochthonous constitution. What was this indigenous, autochthonous constitution? It displaced the supremacy of the parliament. In fact, this constitution destroyed whatever had been built in terms of freedom of expression and the duty of the judiciary to protect the individual from the arbitrary actions of the state.

That indigenous tradition was continued in the 1978 Constitution. This created the indigenous dictator. Sri Lanka abandoned the liberal democratic constitutional model altogether. The separation of power concept was given up in favour of the absolute power of the executive president. After that came the undermining of the judiciary on an unprecedented scale and also the undermining of the parliament. All these are aspects on which enough has been written in detail and the purpose of this statement is not to go into the details of that discourse. But the fact that this indigenous tradition is a tradition of dictatorship and authoritarianism and the suppression of the rights of the individuals is quite clear.

The problem that Sri Lanka faces is one of an indigenous tradition of the total suppression of people which has been the cause of the violations that Sri Lanka is trying to deal with now. The development of the indigenous tradition of suppression also provoked the indigenous traditions of rebel movements which also resorted to the most barbaric modes of violence. Both in the south in terms of the JVP rebellions and in the north in the Tamil movements culminating in the liberation tiger movement saw, the barbaric use of violence. Thus the indigenous traditions of the state using barbarous violence and the local rebels using also using violence are what the country has seen in the past.

What the Minister's statement clearly indicates is that this commission is going to be a farce. It is going to be a repetition of the traditions of denial, the suppression of truth and trying to strengthen the local suppression that has been going on with the help of the people who are willing to support that tradition. Therefore it will not be a surprise that the so-called commissioners would be those who have a long record of being engaged in the suppression of all attempts of people to seek justice and find ways of dealing with a barbarous, indigenous past.

Sumanthiran’s maiden Speech in Parliament

2010-05-16T19:29:00.005+02:00

[Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran, a prominent lawyer in Colombo, Sri Lanka is Member of Parliment of TNA(Tamil Natinonal Alliance)]

Honourable Deputy Chairman of Committees, I wish to first thank you for affording me the opportunity to participate and to make my first speech at the very first debate that is being taken up at this 7th Parliament.

The word ‘debate’ envisages deliberation, exchange of opposing ideas and the ability for one to convince the other and try to change the view point of opposing positions. Unfortunately at this debate, even before the debate begins, this assembly - even this country - knows what the result would be. We deliberate, but at the time of voting it goes on party lines. However this particular motion to extend the state of emergency by the Hon. Prime Minister has another aspect to it, and that is, even if by an overwhelming majority vote, the state of emergency is extended for another month, there are regulations that are made under those emergency powers and the Honourable Minister for External Affairs in his detailed speech listed the changes that were being made to the emergency regulations that have been in force until the 2nd of May 2010.

Therefore with the hope that whatever suggestions that are made at this debate, will be taken into account even in the future when the emergency regulations are amended, I venture to point out three aspects and respond to three matters that the Honourable Minister for External Affairs listed yesterday. He said this is a progressive step. “We cannot do away with state of emergency once and for all; we have to do it step by step”. And in that process he listed around 12 items that have been done away with in the emergency regulations of 2005. Unfortunately there are a dozen emergency regulations that are in extant and only one of those has been amended. I wouldn’t say that the amendments are cosmetic, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they are substantial either. It is true that powers to impose curfew and various other extraordinary powers that had been granted have now been taken away, but more importantly, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that another set of emergency regulations, namely, Emergency (Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism and specified Terrorist Activities) Regulations No.7 of 2006 of December 2006, has been left untouched. The Emergency Regulations of 2005 are the set of regulations that ordinarily have to come into force when a state of emergency is declared, and those are substantially the same as that we had from 1995. But the one that I am referring to now, of 2006 is an extraordinary set of regulations that were brought in, perhaps due to the fact that at that time there was a ceasefire agreement in force; conceded by the government that it was in force at that time, because in January 2008 the government acted under that agreement and gave notice of abrogation. So in December 2006, matters that were declared offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act were brought in, through the backdoor as it were, by these emergency regulations of December 2006. There is heavy criticism by various persons on the content of those regulations. They are overbroad, vague; even having dealings with somebody who has dealings with a terrorist is an offence. Advising a person who is involved in terrorist activity is made an offence. That even touches then, the privilege of Attorneys at Law even to advise somebody to surrender.

And that takes me to another regulation, the regulation that provides for rehabilitation of surrendees. I think that it is another draconian piece because it says that when a person surrenders - and the act of surrender is clearly his own confession in content - he is taken for rehabilitation or what is called ‘rehabilitation’. Now that goes against all norms: that a person must first be pronounced by a competent court to have committed an offence. Even the Prevention of Terrorism Act has safeguards as to how confessions are made admissible. There are safeguards: you have to make it to a person not below the rank of ASP and so on. Now where it involves surrendees that regulation has been left untouched, and it was stated in this House yesterday that there are over 11,000 surrendees kept in an undisclosed place. That is why I say, that although the Honourable Minister for External Affairs stated that a big step has been taken in removing various powers under the emergency, I’d like to think that that is not correct because one out of about 12 regulations has been slightly amended. Now, the power of the armed forces to exercise police powers is another matter which is specifically stated continues to be in force. Now that again is one that is fraught with serious dangers, serious dangers of abuse, even the power to carry out investigation by armed forces, generally the powers that are only left with the police are given to the armed forces and those are to still continue.

The second issue that I wish to highlight is a very unfortunate one and that is this: we can discuss and debate what is printed in Emergency Regulations and what is given to us. But I will give two examples of instances where even the powers given in the Emergency Regulations are not utilized. One is the High Security Zone in Valligaman in Jaffna, the other is the forcible internment of displaced persons in Vavuniya. Neither of these two examples that I cite come under any Emergency Regulation whatsoever. These are two examples only, of flagrant violations, of total illegality. So what is the point, I ask Honourable Deputy Chairman of Committees, of framing regulations, then pruning them down, making announcements that we have done away with draconian provisions, when the Government acts totally outside of even those powers that are given under the Emergency Regulations. There is not a single detention order for those 80,000 odd persons that the government says are still in the camps. An application has been filed in Supreme Court and the Supreme Court perhaps is so embarrassed that for months no order has been given even with regard to Leave to Proceed. Ordinarily, on the very first day of support order is given either to proceed or it is dismissed. Several dates have been given for the Order and now there is no date at all. It is the first time in the history of this country that the Supreme Court has not given a date to make an order with regard to leave to proceed. Same with regard to the High Security Zone in Jaffna. An application is pending in the Supreme Court for the last six years. There has been even a judicial pronouncement that it is illegal and several consequential orders have been made for persons to be resettled in those areas. But apart from a few who were permitted to be resettled in the outer periphery, six years ago, not one single person has been allowed inside, and that is not a prescribed High Security Zone. There are many areas that have been declared under the emergency Regulations as High Security Zones, but not Valligamam, in Jaffna. And over hundred thousand persons are displaced as a result. The point that I am making is that it is well and good to discuss what powers are being removed, how we are going step by step, but all that is irrelevant and all that becomes useless when the government acts totally outside of the powers that are given even through the extraordinary powers of emergency regulations.

And the third issue is with regard to an announcement that again the Honourable Minister for External Affairs made yesterday that His Excellency the President has decided to appoint a Reconciliation Commission, and he added that this Commission would be in the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. We welcome this move. Truth must be told. After all it is truth that will set everyone free. But for truth to be told, as was stated this morning in this house at this debate, there needs to be a change of attitude. For true reconciliation to take place, one must first understand, accept the fact that this protracted war that went on for over 30 years was not merely with a rag-tag army, a group of armed men. The very fact that the Honourable Minister states that reconciliation is necessary is enough proof that the government concedes that as a result of this protracted war communities in this country have been alienated from each other and we need processes for reconciliation. Now for that to happen attitudes must change as I said and I want to highlight one issue with regard to the announcement that there is going to be a week of commemoration or victory celebration, to mark what happened last year, beginning 12th of May. Last year when there were victory celebrations I happened to be walking on the street when busses from various parts of the country came to Colombo for the victory celebrations and we were taunted on the streets, like how they do at big matches. I was told ‘Eke thamai Appi kiuwe, Apiththeka baha kiuwe’ That was the attitude. That was the attitude that hurt, that alienates people. That is not in the spirit of reconciliation that the Honourable Minister of External Affairs stated yesterday. And I hope that even when this week is taken to mark this occasion of the end of an armed conflict, that it is done sensitively. And that the commemoration is as much for the soldiers who died and who were maimed and lost various other facilities, as for every other Sri Lankan citizen who died and lost. Because all those who died in this war are Sri Lankan. All those who lost their limbs, their loved ones, their homes and various other things are all Sri Lankan. And we need to address this occasion with a sense of grief. It is not a sense of triumphalism, of one over the other, but a sense of grief that our country has had to go through this kind of spell, and perhaps a sense of relief that we are now coming out of it. And unless our attitude changes in that direction, we cannot even think in terms of other processes of reconciliation.

Honourable Hisbullah detailed a story yesterday in this House. He told this house that there was a 13 year old person taken into detention, 14 years ago; that for more than half his life he has been in detention and that he has not committed any offence. He doesn’t even know why he is in detention. Now this is not an example that I am giving you, it is an example that has been given to this House by a Member of the Government bench. So I take it, that he knows what he is talking about. That must be one of hundreds, or even thousands, that are languishing in detention. How can we then say that we are truly free, when a teenager who is taken in does not even know, according to the Honourable Minister himself, as to why he has been kept behind bars for 14 long years. And the Hon Member stated this but did not say what remedial measure had been taken by the government for this. And unless we are able to address these issues, we will not be able to move forward in this process of reconciliation.

War is a bad thing. After all, in this country and the majority of Buddhist adherents in this country, have a connection with Emperor Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism. And if one thinks about that, his conversion to Buddhism was after a war that he won, but through grief that so much was lost during that war. And if Emperor Ashoka’s offspring brought Buddhism to this country, and that is our history, as true Buddhists and others who follow various religions who also believe that killing is bad, to simply put it, must grieve over the hundreds and thousands of persons, perhaps, who lost their lives during this 30 year war.

We oppose the extension of the emergency for the reasons that I have stated. Because even the assurance given by the Honourable Minister for External Affairs that these are substantial changes don’t convince us. I highlighted some of the provisions that still exist and must be done away with as quickly as possible. I hope that the government will take steps to look at the other emergency regulations in force, particularly the one that was promulgated in December 2006 and take steps to repeal those provisions as well.

Therefore Honourable Deputy Chairman of Committees, while the government takes those steps, I urge the government to not act outside the pale of law, not to act outside the strict provision of the law. The rule of law must prevail. And it was only two examples that I gave where large numbers of persons are affected. And that must be remedied forthwith. If we are to say that we are taking definite, concrete steps to return to normality, then these are some of the essential steps that must be taken, and I hope that the government will do that at least in the future.

And I end with my third point repeating that the process of reconciliation and truth-telling must commence with changes of attitude. And when people do start telling their stories it must be received in the spirit that we ask them to tell their stories. Thank you very much.

Unchristian and Christian missionaries

2010-04-28T20:22:00.001+02:00

The word missionary comes from the Latin meaning to send. For example, the Buddha was Indian, and Indian missionaries were sent to bring Buddhism to Sri Lanka. But now, given almost half a millennium of dominance and proselytization, the word "missionary" is usually associated with Christianity and the West. Missionaries are not in favour. As I write (February 2010), about ten American missionaries have been expelled from Haiti for, allegedly, attempting to abduct children from that earthquake devastated country. In Sri Lanka, there is concern and indignation at the "unlawful" (as distinct from lawful?) conversion of Buddhists to Christianity. Going back in time, there is the role, often unfortunate, played by missionaries during the years of Western imperialism.

It has been claimed that, in return for protection afforded by the imperial state, Christian missionaries emphasised meekness, acceptance, the Biblical "turning of the other cheek", and directed the thoughts of the "natives" to wealth, dignity and freedom in the next world. Alan Bott, in his ‘Our Fathers’ writes that the British East African Company "reaped" (financial, material) profit where Livingstone had "sown" the Gospel. V. G. Kiernan (‘The Lords of Human Kind’) states that missionaries were in close league with European governments, and were advocates of annexation. The priest in Mongo Beti’s novel, ‘The Poor Christ of Bomba’, seeing the ambiguity of his position, decides to return to France: he’ll come back when Africa is free. (Asian Buddhist monks working in the West today encounter no hostility.) Christine Bolt (‘Victorian Attitudes to Race’) observes that the nineteenth-century European missionary believed that Christianity was divinely ordained to conquer and save "savage" peoples. However, the missionary’s sense of spiritual superiority easily turned into racial superiority, and cultural arrogance. Bolt quotes from the ‘Church Missionary Intelligencer’ of 1850: Once a people are defeated in war, Christianity best consolidates the conquest. Kipling wrote the poem, ‘The White Man’s Burden’, to urge the United States to conquer and occupy the Philippines. The Philipinos, like other conquered "natives", were but "Half devil and half child" who had to be dragged – for their benefit – from darkness into the light of Christianity and Western civilization. Even in the twentieth century, during the period of India’s struggle for independence, some British clergymen argued that God Himself had given India to Britain, and to abandon (sic) the land and people would be a betrayal of a sacred trust.

Amartya Sen (among others) has pointed out that identity is multiple. To affix a label – Sinhalese, Tamil, Christian, Moslem – is to isolate and give importance to just one aspect. It simplifies and, therefore, falsifies, a complex reality. The label "missionary" disregards and suppresses what is contrary, even contradictory. The present writer paid tribute to Dr R. L. Hayman and the Rev A. J. Foster in an article on St Thomas’ College, Gurutalawa (‘Sunday Island’, 5 July 2009). These two educationalists were held in affection and esteem not only by Christians but also by Buddhists and Hindus; not only when they were pupils but in later life, as mature adults possessed of greater awareness, knowledge and better judgement. On the lines of "bad news is good news", it is those missionaries who were "racially", socially and spiritually arrogant, and who went along with the imperial project who have tended to remain in memory. Altering Shakespeare’s words, one can say that the evil done by some lives on after them, while the good done by others is buried with their bones. A strong corrective of the negative image of Christian missionaries can be found in Thiru Arumugam’s ‘Nineteenth Century American Medical Missionaries in Jaffna, Ceylon: with special reference to Samuel Fisk Green’ (South Asian Studies Centre, Sydney, 2009).

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was formed in 1810. The aim was, in the process of curing the body, to convert the soul to Christianity: those in sickness and pain are grateful for help, and susceptible to influence. The body was healed so that the soul might be saved (Arumugam, p. 31). "Extracts from the Bible were printed on the reverse side of the patient’s (sic) tickets and they had to read it out (or have it read to them) before treatment commenced" (p. 56). However, the missionaries met with little success where conversion was concerned: see, for example, pages 67 & 68. So it is not surprising that (according to statistics available to me), the percentage of Christians at independence was about 9% and now is perhaps down to 7%.

To read a book is to enter into, and inhabit, the world and times it re-presents. Here, in Arumugam’s work, we encounter the human beings behind the label "missionary". Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), the voyage from America, non-stop, took between four and five months. To send a letter from Ceylon and receive a reply meant a lapse of eight to ten months. Missionaries were expected to serve until they retired or passed away: leaving on missionary work often meant saying goodbye forever to loved family and friends, familiar environment and culture. It demanded conviction and commitment; called for endurance and quiet heroism. Miss Elizabeth Agnew, Principal of Uduvil Girls’ School, served from 1840 until her death forty-three years later. During this period, she never visited America, saying she was too busy to go on holiday. Having taught so many girls, she was known as "the mother of a thousand daughters" (p. 27). Dr Isabella Curr, from Scotland, joined the American Christian Mission, and worked at hospitals in Manipay and Inuvil for nearly forty years (p. 140).

It was not only the missionaries who fell ill and died, but their infants and children: "in less than eighteen months, we been (sic) called to part with three children [...] May our loss be made up by spiritual children" (p. 30). Harriet married Samuel Newell at the age of seventeen, aware of the life, difficulties and dangers that awaited her. Four months after leaving America, the Newells reached Calcutta (June 1812). However, the British East India Company declared them unwanted and ordered them to return to America. The Newells took the earliest ship available, one that was sailing from India to Mauritius. During the voyage, Harriet gave birth but the infant died four days later. Harriet too fell ill, and though treated in Mauritius, passed away, never having set foot in Ceylon, but affirming the value of, and her faith in, religion (p. 5). In the expulsion of the Newells, we have an insight into imperial assumptions and attitudes. Britain looked upon its overseas territory and peoples as belonging rightfully to her: the Americans would be better employed in converting "their" own heathen.

In Jaffna, the missionaries found that widespread poverty and inadequate shelter were major causes of disease and illness (p. 21). They devoted themselves totally to their work. In times of epidemics, such as cholera (p. 32), they "worked among the sick, bathing the sufferers, burying their dead, and doing what they could to relieve distress", disregarding danger to themselves. (Those of a certain age will recall the difference the presence of Western nuns and sisters made to hospital wards in Sri Lanka.)

Among the charges levelled against imperialism, one is that education was deliberately kept rudimentary, sufficient for the natives to help Britain to administer the country. Another is that missionaries were condescending in ‘racial’ and cultural terms. Neither applies to these missionaries. One writes home that there are among the people of Jaffna those of intelligence such that, "if they had equal advantages with the young men in our country, they no doubt would be an honour to any nation" (p. 28). As for deliberately limiting knowledge, their aim was to "teach [...] the sciences usually studied in the Colleges of Europe and America" (p. 42). Electricity was a part of the curriculum in Jaffna "only a decade or so after Michael Faraday discovered how to create current flow, and several decades before Edison invented the incandescent lamp" (ibid). Though economically neglected and poor, Jaffna then had a general hospital that would have done Colombo proud.

What preoccupied "Ceylonese" around the mid-1950s was the so-called language issue, and the cry of "Sinhala only". A hundred years earlier, it was decided that medical education in Jaffna would be conducted only in Tamil, but the motivation for the "Tamilizing [of] western medicine" (p. 96) was not a racist nationalism: it was found that doctors instructed and trained in English left the area (and the notion of altruist service) for better-paid posts in other parts of the Island. Dr Green’s concern was that the Tamils trained by the mission settle in their own respective villages, and be of service to the poor. Most remarkably, Dr Green did not want to see students become "denationalized", giving up the turban for a hat, and vegetarianism for "carnivorism" (p. 93). His wish was to see Christian Tamils - not Europeanised Tamils (ibid).

Dr. Green who had mastered Tamil, translated many Western medical text-books, including the most famous of them, ‘Gray’s Anatomy’. Often, Tamil not having the equivalent medical terms, Dr Green set about coining words. A literal translation, he wrote, is useless (p.80): "It is better to devise one’s own plan, and compile freely from many authors, taking their ideas only [...] select a well planned elementary treatise and use this as a basis [...]; which may prove to be a compilation, translation, and original work combined; interleave it, add, erase, and transpose matter, remodel sentences, phrases and figures so as to adapt the book to the language of the people [...] " Free of cultural arrogance (often, based on ignorance), Dr Green urged that "the medical missionary should investigate the native systems of medicine" (p. 80); associate with, and learn from, native doctors.

I conclude with an entry that has to do with Colombo, rather than Jaffna. Mary Irwin, ostensibly single, arrived in 1897 to take up work as a doctor. It then transpired that, while in America, she had married Mr S. C. K. Rutnam, her tutor in Tamil. The discovery of the marriage created displeasure in the missionary hierarchy, and the Rutnams moved to Colombo where Mrs Rutnam became the first female obstetrician and gynaecologist in the capital (p. 140). She was active in groups such as the Ceylon Women’s Union; campaigned for maternal and child health-care, and wrote school text-books on health and hygiene. She was elected the first woman member of the Colombo Municipal Council and, in 1958, was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay international award for public service: "Jaffna’s loss was Colombo’s gain" (p. 140).

As with members of all religions, there are some who, in the name of their religion, act in ways contrary to the teachings of that religion (hence "unchristian" above) while others live by, and exemplify, the highest and noblest ideals of their faith. 0ne realizes, yet again, that truth, rather than being single and simple, is often multiple and complex.

Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan
charlessarvan@yahoo.com

Interview with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

2010-04-27T19:32:00.001+02:00

Interview III - Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu from Young Asia Television on Vimeo.

Diaspora Role in Sri Lanka Politics

2010-04-24T19:07:00.007+02:00

2010-04-19T17:32:00.001+02:00

World Books Day

2010-04-19T17:24:00.001+02:00

World Books Day
Directorates of Public Libraries
and
Puthagam Pesuthu of Bharathi Puthakalayam
jointly present

Special Seminar on Copyrights issue

22nd April 2010; 6 pm | LLA Buildings Hall, Chennai 2

to be presided by
K Arivoli
Director, Public Library Department

Welcome Address:
Sethu. Chokkalingam,
President, BAPASI

Copyrights & the Law
Advocate S Senthilnathan
Advocate S Duraisamy

Copyrights and Publishing Houses
Gandhi Kannadasan

Copyrights and Libraries
N Avudaiyappan

Copyrights and Translations
Era Natarasan

Copyrights and Authors
Gnani

Vote of Thanks:
K Nagarajan

Puthagam Pesuthu, 421 Anna Salai, Chennai- 600018 phone: 044- 24332424

Please share the invitation with friends

2010-04-12T12:22:00.000+02:00

Tamil Drama Festival 2010

2010-03-16T14:47:00.002+01:00

SRI LANKA: Government campaign against Transparency International and moves to arrest J.C. Weliamuna

2010-03-09T12:08:00.000+01:00

SRI LANKA: Government campaign against Transparency International and moves to arrest J.C. Weliamuna

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-046-2010
March 9, 2010

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

SRI LANKA: Government campaign against Transparency International and moves to arrest J.C. Weliamuna

The Asian Human Rights Commission reliably understands that there is a move to arrest and detain J.C. Weliamuna, the chairperson of Transparency International in Sri Lanka (TISL) on fabricated charges. During the last few weeks there have been several media attempts on the part of the government to make insinuations against the Sri Lankan branch of Transparency International. There were publicised reports about the misuse of funds which TISL has publically claimed as completely fabricated and false. There have also been reports over government media channels about NGOs and INGOs trying to destabilize Sri Lanka and an announcement that the government will carry out an all out campaign against such organisations.

These allegations come in the aftermath of the presidential elections and in the midst of a parliamentary election. In the presidential elections one of the most glaring complaints against the government was its abuse of the state resources for electoral purposes. This is also one of the major grounds for the petition filed by the opposition common candidate against the election results of the last presidential elections. The election monitoring organisations have made strong adverse reports against the government on this score. In the parliamentary elections also, if there is any abuse of government resources similar accusations are likely to arise.

The purpose of the attack on TISL and of the possible arrest its chairperson, J.C. Weliamuna, would be to create adverse impressions on the credibility of the organisations engaged in monitoring elections as well as the findings of these organisations in the last elections.

It is quite possible to make use of national security laws to arrest persons and then engage in heavy propaganda against them while they remain in detention. While TISL may have an impeccable record about their accounts and credibility, these things become relevant only at the final stage of a trial. Meanwhile persons can be kept in detention for long periods and then heavy adverse campaigns can be carried out against them in order to blackmail them for political purposes.

Over a long period the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed out that Sri Lanka's criminal justice system is in serious crisis and can be manipulated by the authorities to achieve whatever purposes they wish. Even under normal circumstances the fabrication of charges can be achieved easily within Sri Lanka's criminal justice system. In recent times this has also been put to political use and the AHRC has been reporting for quite some time now that the process of arrest, detention and even trial is now being manipulated for political purposes. The cases against J.S. Tissainayagam, Santha Fernando and now the retired general, Sarath Fonseka and many of his associates are glaring examples of the severe abuse of the criminal justice process in order to achieve unscrupulous political purposes.

On the 27th September, 2008 two grenades were thrown at the house of J.C. Weliamuna. One exploded and damaged the building. The other was found inside the property. If it had exploded it could have seriously harmed Mr. Weliamuna and his family. There was a serious outcry locally by the Bar Association and human rights organisations and many international organisations including Transparency International and the International Commission of Jurists. The case was also reported by the International Bar Association. However, there were no serious investigations into the attack and no one was arrested. Recently there was a report by the government when it attempted to create the impression that Mr. Weliamuna threw the grenades to create publicity for himself. These types of counter attacks in order to ridicule the complaints relating to harassment have also become a common feature of government propaganda.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Sri Lankan government to desist in the harassment of Transparency International and to refrain from abusing the criminal justice process by arresting Mr. J.C. Weliamuna or anyone else on fabricated charges. We also call upon the government as well as all members of parliament to intervene in order to stop the arrest and the abuse of the legal process. We also call upon the Inspector General of Police to desist from allowing the abuse of police powers for political purposes. We call upon the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to intervene strongly to prevent the political harassment of civil society organisations and human rights activists. We call upon the Secretary General of the United Nations, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and all human rights agencies and international organisations to intervene seriously to protect the rights of citizens who participate peacefully in political life and to protect human rights activists and defenders.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
Posted on 2010-03-09
Back to [AHRC Statements 2010]

http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2010statements/2463/

Asian Human Rights Commission

Repeal PTA in Sri Lanka!!!

2010-03-02T19:24:00.004+01:00

Campaign for Repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and end gross violations of rights in Sri Lanka!!

There is no longer any reason for the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, there are many compelling reasons as to why it should immediately be repealed. It was the existence of the LTTE and its ruthless violence that the government used to justify the promulgation and maintenance of the PTA. Now, by the very admission of the government this threat has ceased to exist.
Even at a time of grave danger the PTA was too draconian and many of the provisions in the act could not have been justified. This has been pointed out by local legal opinion, local human rights groups and governments around the world, as well as international human rights agencies and several United Nations agencies and experts.
After the defeat of the LTTE the government said that elements associated with it could remain, and that some new elements may emerge; yet every country faces this possibility all the time. If this reasoning is used to suspend the operation of a normal legal system then this would need to apply everywhere, forever. Terrorism – even war – is always possible, but if people are willing to abandon their freedoms and their normal legal rights to preempt these possibilities, draconian law will reign indefinitely.
As long as the PTA remains in operation there is reason to suspect that it is being used by the government for political advantage, as an instrument to perpetuate its own power. Complaints of oppression by the opposition and other dissenting voices will have legitimate weight.
The Act has effectively aided the destruction of the normal rule of law within Sri Lanka and undermined the independence of its judiciary; indeed litigants, lawyers and even the judges may have started to forget what a strong, functioning legal system is like. To maintain the PTA is to continue destroying what is left. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantage that the the government spokesperson may claim that it has.
An enduring PTA will continue to place the Criminal Investigation Division and the Terrorism Investigation Division beyond the control of the law, with no checks or balances against its abuse of power. Tales of torture being used, charges being fabricated and deaths occurring in places of detention are heard constantly, yet while the PTA exists there is no way to even investigate such allegations, let alone avoid them.
Sri Lanka’s policing system has collapsed; this is now a fact acknowledged by all. Yet no reform process can be set in motion, and under the protection of the PTA Sri Lanka's police force will continue to degenerate, its people given no option but to live under its oppression, corruption and arbitrary violence.
What this means is that literally hundreds of thousands of people will suffer without any legal recourse, and large numbers will continue to live outside the protection of the law. The entire population will be affected.
It is time for everyone in Sri Lanka and beyond to earnestly request the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Sri Lankan government. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection.

Tamil:
பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தினை வாபஸ் பெற்று பாரிய அளவில்
நிகழும் உரிமை மீறல்களுக்கு முற்றுப் புள்ளி இடவும்!!

பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தினைத் தொடர்ந்தும் செயற்பாட்டில் வைத்திருப்பதற்கு எந்த ஒரு காரணமும் இல்லை. மாறாக அதனை உடனடியாக வாபஸ் பெற வேண்டும் என்பதற்கு பல மறுக்க முடியாத காரணங்கள் உள்ளன.
நான்கு மாதங்களிற்கு முன்னர் LTTE யினரை தோற்கடித்து விட்டதாக அரசு பிரகடனப்படுத்தியது. பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை பிரகடனப்படுத்தி அதனை நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருந்ததை, LTTE யினர் நிலை கொண்டிருந்து ஈவு இரக்கமற்ற வன்முறையில் ஈடுபட்டதைக் காரணம் காட்டி அரசு நியாயப்படுத்தியது. தற்சமயம் அரசின் கூற்றிற்கமையவே அவ்வகையான வன்முறைக்கான அச்சுறுத்தல் ஓய்ந்து விட்டது. ஆகவே தொடர்ந்தும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தினை நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருப்பதை நியாயப்படுத்த எக்காரணமும் இல்லை.

LTTE யினர் ஏற்படுத்திய பாரிய அச்சுறுத்தலின் பின்னணியில் கூட, பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தின் ஏற்பாடுகள் கொடூரமானவை எனக் கருதப்பட்டது. குறிப்பிட்ட வகையிலான அச்சுறுத்தல்கள் இருந்த போதிலும் கூட இச்சட்டத்தின் விதப்புரைகள் நியாயப்படுத்தக் கூடியதாக இருந்ததில்லை. இது இவ்வகையிலானது என்பதை உள்ளூர் சட்ட வல்லுனர்களின் கருத்தும், உள்ளூர் மனித உரிமைகள் ஆர்வலர்களின் குழுக்களும், உலகின் பல்வேறு அரசுகளும், பல ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் ஸ்தாபனத்தின் முகவர் அமைப்புக்களும், நிபுணர்களும், மற்றும் பல்வேறு சர்வதேச மனித உரிமைகள் அமைப்புக்களும் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளன. ஆகவே இச்சட்டத்தை நியாயப்படுத்துவதற்கான காரணம் அற்றுப் போயுள்ளமையால் இக்கொடூரச் சட்டத்தை தொடர்ந்தும் நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருக்க எந்தவொரு அடிப்படையுமில்லை.
LTTE யுடன் தொடர்புள்ள பலரும் அவ்வகையிலான சில புதிய அமைப்புக்களை உருவாக்கலாம் எனக் காரணம் காட்டி குறித்த சட்டத்தை தொடர்ந்து நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருப்பதை நியாயப்படுத்துகின்றார்கள். இவ்வகையான நிலைமை ஏற்படக்கூடிய வாய்ப்புக்கள் எல்லா நாடுகளும் எதிர்கொள்ள வேண்டிய ஒன்றாகும். இக்காரணத்தின் அடிப்படையில் சாதாரண சட்ட ஒழுங்கு முறைக்கு அமைய செயற்படுவதை இடை நிறுத்த இதனைக் காரணமாகக் கொள்வதெனில் எல்லா நாடுகளும் எல்லாச் சமயங்களிலும் இவ்வகையான சட்டங்களை நடைமுறைப்படுத்தும் தேவையேற்படும். பயங்கரவாத அமைப்புக்கள் மாத்திரமன்று உலக யுத்தங்கள் கூட ஏற்பட வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது. இவ்வகையிலான ஒரு வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது என்று கூறி மக்கள் தங்கள் சுதந்திரங்களை இழந்து சாதாரண சட்ட ஒழுங்குகளிற்கமைய செயற்படுவதையும் இழக்க நேரிடுமாயின் குறித்த வகையிலான கொடூர சட்டங்களில் இருந்து அவர்களை பாதுகாக்க முடியாது போகும்.
பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டம் தொடாந்து நடைமுறையில் இருக்குமேயானால் அதில் இருந்து அரசியல் அனுகூலங்களைத் தாம் பெறுவதற்காகவே பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை அரசு நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருக்கின்றது என்று குற்றம் சுமத்தவும், நியாயப்படுத்தக்கூடிய ஐயம் ஏற்படவும் இடமளிக்கின்றது. தனது அதிகாரத்தை செலுத்த பயங்காரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை அரசு ஒரு கருவியாக பயன்படுத்துகின்றது என அனுமானிக்க இடமளிக்கின்றது.

எதிர்கட்சியில் உள்ளவர்களும் அரசின் கருத்துக்கு மாற்றுக் கருத்துக்களைக் கொண்டவர்களும் ஆளும் கட்சி தன் அதிகாரத்தைத் தக்கவைப்பதற்கு, மாற்றுக் கருத்துக்களை அடக்கிவைக்கும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தைக் கருவியாகப் பயன்படுத்துகின்றது என்று கூறுவது உண்மையாகின்றது.
பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை நடைமுறைப்படுத்தியதன் விளைவாக நாட்டினுள் வழமையான சட்டத்தின் ஆதிக்கத்திற்கு அமைவான செயற்பாடுகளை அழிக்கவும் நீதித்துறையின் சுயாதீனத் தன்மைக்கு பங்கம் ஏற்படுத்தவும் இடமளித்தது. அதன் விளைவாக வழமையான சட்டத்தின் ஆதிக்கத்திற்கு அமைவான ஒழுங்கு முறைகள் எவ்வகையிலானது என்பதனை வழக்காளிகளும், சட்டத்தரணிகளும், நீதிபதிகளும் கூட மறக்க ஆரம்பித்து இருப்பார்கள். பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டம் எல்லாப் பகுதிகளிலும் நடைமுறைப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. அதனால் சட்டத்தின் ஆதிக்கமும், நீதித்துறையின் சுயாதீனத் தன்மையும் பாரிய அளவில் பாதிப்புற்றுள்ளன. தொடர்ந்தும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தினை நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருப்பது என்பது அதன் பாதகமான விளைவுகளை தொடரவிடுவதற்கு ஒத்ததாகும். ஆகவே அரசின் பேச்சாளர் கூறும் சிறு அனுகூலங்களைக்காட்டிலும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை தொடர்ந்தும் அமுல்படுத்துவதனால் ஏற்படும் பிரதிகூலங்களும், பாரிய பாதகமான விளைவுகளும் அதிகமானவை.
தொடர்ந்தும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருப்பது குற்றவியல் புலனாய்வுப் பிரிவும், பயங்கரவாத புலனாய்வுப் பிரிவும் சட்டத்தின் கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்கு அப்பாற்பட்ட அமைப்புக்களாகிவிடும். இவ்வமைப்புக்களுக்கு பெருமளவு அதிகாரங்களை பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டங்கள் அளித்துள்ளமையால் அவைகள் தமக்குள்ள அதிகாரங்களை துஸ்பிரயோகம் செய்வதைக் கட்டுப்படுத்த செயல்வலுவுள்ள எந்த வழியுமே இல்லை. அவர்களால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளவர்கள் சித்திரவதை செய்யப்படுவதாகவும், வேண்டுமென்றே அவர்கள் மரணிக்கச் செய்யப்படுவதாகவும் அடிக்கடி கேள்விப்படும் விடயமாகும். எனவே பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டம் நடைமுறையில் இருக்கும் வரை இவ்வகையான நிகழ்வுகளைத் தவிர்த்துக் கொள்ள வழி இல்லாதுபோய்விடுவது மாத்திரமன்றி இவை தொடர்பான புகார்களைக் கூட புலனாய்வு செய்ய முடியாத நிலை உள்ளது.
இலங்கையில் பொலிஸ் ஒழுங்கு முறைகள் செயலற்றுப் போயுள்ளன என்பது யாவரும் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளும் ஒரு விடயமாகும். இவ்வமைப்பை புனரமைப்புச் செய்வதற்கு பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டம் நடைமுறையில் உள்ள காலம் வரை நடைமுறைப்படுத்த முடியாத ஒரு விடயமாகும். அப்படியெனின் பாரதூரமான அளவிற்கு செயலற்றுப் போயிருக்கும் பொலிஸ் ஒழுங்கு முறை தொடர்ந்தும் வீழ்ச்சியடைந்து கொண்டேபோகும். அதன் விளைவாக மக்கள் அடக்கு முறைக்குட்பட்டும் ஊழல் மோசடிகள் மத்தியில் நியாயப்படுத்த முடியாத செயல்கள் மத்தியிலும் வாழ நேரிடும்.
இவை எல்லாவற்றின் விளைவு ஆயிரக்கணக்கானோர் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தின் ஏற்பாடுகளினால் பாதிப்புற்ற நிலையில், அதற்கு சட்டத்தினால் எந்த நிவாரணமும் பெற முடியாத நிலை ஏற்படும். அதன் பொருள் யாதெனில் பெருமளவிலான மக்கள் சட்டத்தின் பாதுகாப்பு அற்ற நிலையில் வாழ நேரும் என்பதே. பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தினால் ஏற்படும் தாக்கம் இந்நாட்டு மக்கள் எல்லோரது வாழ்விற்கும் மேற்கூறப்பட்ட பாதகங்களை ஏற்படுத்தும்.
ஆகவே இலங்கை வாழ் மக்கள் யாவரும் அதன் வெளியில் வாழும் இலங்கையரோ அல்லது ஏனையோரோ பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை உடனடியாக இரத்துச் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று அரசாங்கத்திடம் அழுத்தமான வேண்டுகோள் விட வேண்டும். மேலும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் உள்ள அதி விசேட அதிகாரங்களைப் பயன்படுத்துவதன் மூலம் நீதித்துறையினை வலுவிழக்கச் செய்து சாதாரண சட்ட ஏற்பாடுகளைப் பயன்படுத்தி நீதித்துறையினர் மக்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு அளிக்கக்கூடிய வழி வகைகளை செய்து உதவுவதற்கு இச்சட்டம் முட்டுக்கட்டையாகவுள்ளது.

உத்தேசக் கடிதம்
நெடுநாட்களாக இலங்கை மக்கள் அனுபவித்து வரும் பாரியளவிலான துன்பங்களை மிகுந்த கவலையுடன் நான் அவதானித்து வந்துள்ளேன். LTTE யினரை தோற்கடித்துவிட்டதாக அரசு பிரகடனப்படுத்தியதும் இந்நாட்டின் எல்லா மக்களுக்கும் சமாதானம் ஏற்படும் என்றும், அவர்களுக்கு சட்டத்தின் பாதுகாப்புக் கிடைக்கும் என்றும் எதிர்பார்த்தேன். தொடர்ந்தும் பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தை நடைமுறையில் வைத்திருப்பதன் மூலம் இவ் எதிர்பார்ப்பில் ஏமாற்றம் அடைந்தேன். மக்களின் உரிமைகள் மறுத்து குறித்த கொடூர பயங்கரவாத தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தின் ஏற்பாடுகளை எவ்வகையிலும் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள முடியாத முறையில் நடைமுறைப்படுத்தி மக்களைத் தொடர்ந்தும் துன்பத்திற்கு உள்ளாக்குவது எந்த வகையிலும் நியாயப்படுத்த முடியாத ஒரு விடயமாகும். மேலும் சட்டத்தின் ஆதிக்கத்தை நியாயப்படுத்தக் கூடியவகையில் நடைமுறைப்படுத்துவதற்கான கோட்பாடுகளிற்கும் முரணானவையாகும். இவ்வகையிலான கொடூரச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் வாழ்வது என்பது நரக வாழ்க்கைக்கு ஒத்ததாகும். இச்சட்டங்களினால் விசேடமாக பாதிப்புற்றோர் உளர். அவர்கள் எந்த வகையிலான மனிதாபிமான முறையிலான பராமரிப்பினையோ சட்டப் பாதுகாப்பையோ பெற முடியாத நிலையில் உள்ளனர்.
ஆகவே இந்நாட்டு மக்கள் அனுபவிக்கும் பாரிய துன்பத்தில் இருந்து உடனடியாக அவர்களை மீட்டு எடுத்து நாட்டின் சாதாரண சட்டத்தின் செயற்பாட்டை மீள ஏற்படுத்தி சட்டத்தின் பாதுகாப்பை அவர்களுக்கு அளிக்கக் கூடிய வகையில் நீதித்துறைக்கு அதிகாரத்தை வழங்கி ஒரு ஜனநாயகத்தின் கீழ் அத்துறையினரிடம் இருந்து எதிர்பார்க்கும் பொறுப்பை நிறைவேற்ற இடமளிக்குமாறு ஸ்ரீலங்கா அரசிடம் வேண்டுகின்றேன்.

The Petition

Dear Mr. President Rajapakse,

I have long been watching the tremendous suffering of the people in Sri Lanka with great anxiety.

When the government declared the defeat of the LTTE, I hoped that those within Sri Lanka's border would regain the protection of the law, and a sense of peace. Yet this hope has been betrayed by the continued operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. There is no longer justification for the PTA, and all it currently achieves is the large-scale deprivation of civilians' rights and the arbitrary use of draconian laws. These leave huge numbers of Sri Lankans without the right to demand humane treatment or legal protection - they lack logic or reason, they are against all principles of equality before the law and for many, they have made Sri Lanka a living hell.

I therefore urge the Sri Lankan government to immediately remove this cause of extreme suffering by restoring the rule of law and leaving the judiciary to its work. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with arbitrary, extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection, as is expected within a democracy.

Yours sincerely,

[fullname]
[location]

to support this petition:

Disgrace and death brings more happiness than supporting a cruel autocracy

2010-02-28T19:18:00.004+01:00

Letter form journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, who was abducted on 24th January 2010 in Colombo Sri Lanka

This personal letter written by Prageeth Eknaligoda to a non relative daughter living in abroad provides window to his perceptions on political - military terror that has engulfed Sri Lankan Society. Written two months after he was abducted for the first time and later being dropped in a quarry in August 2009,. this is a personal narrative of his life after the abduction. The context of this narrative is the popular pro war sentiments in Sinhala society in the aftermath of war victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which made people like Prageeth a traitor. He was abducted for the second time and so far all efforts to trace him has failed .This is an English translation of his original Sinhala letter.

03 November 2009

My daughter Ruwandi,

I read your email you sent me. Please excuse this late reply. Today you are not the small cute baby whom I cajoled in my lap. Now you are a grown-up person who understands things. My heart is full of joy for that. I didn’t have time to write you back in peace because I became isolated among thousands of human beings. I had again to adopt to tedious safe life patterns whether I liked it or not. I had to leave my job which made me loose my income. Even my closest ones didn’t have any other option than leaving me alone. This is not a personal fault of anyone. It is a logical reality. In these times no one can support anyone else. Furthermore, no one dares to help someone like me who has become a target of the sacred military regime. But if there were not two, three persons who were courageous enough to help me, my situation would have become unthinkable. The terror can even change the way a person thinks and acts.

What we have in this country today is a terror aimed at individuals. This is not like the generalized terror on society which we faced in 1988/89. It is a terror that is not visible because everyone tries to take care of oneself but does not pay attention to others. Like in those days no one helps the ones who became targets. The dependents become helpless. Although there is no open discussion among people fear is lurking in everyone’s mind. Instead of facing the fear in an organized way in this country people are living making fear a virtue. In this way, cowardness is masqueraded as tactical intellect or cleverness. They say that one is facing danger because of his foolishness. If not this, they look for some errors which he has made or they look for justifications for the suppression he is facing. Accordingly I am now confirmed as a fool or wrongdoer or sinner even among my closest ones. I am not going to make efforts to change this belief or argue to justify my stand.

I look at them with compassion. I am not going to use the terror as a reason to change or degrade the politics I believed as just and right and in which I was engaged in accordingly. I cannot act against my conscience. The government has a power stretched towards New Delhi, Beijing, Islamabad and Tel Aviv. I know they have a torture-army trained in methods of placing the body on nailed beds, picking up body parts and liquidating them in acid basins to destroy the opponents. And I know that puritan, common society is ready to provide billions of rupees to carry out those crimes. I know that killing me, being a patient and physically week to the lowest level, is easier than killing an ant. But just because of that I cannot support building a cruel autocratic state. I cannot support killing thousands including infants and old, humiliating them, imprisoning them, and grabbing their property and land. I cannot be a wise man who pretends not to see these actions. I cannot support dividing a country which should be united. That is against the morals I adhere to. Disgrace and death brings more happiness than supporting such a policy.

I have become a wrongdoer although I have not done any wrong against anyone. I do not blame anyone for this. I do not have anger against the soldiers who tortured me while abducting and taking me away to assassinate me. Why? Because they just did a job assigned to them. If they are not in that job they, too, would have been innocent persons like me and could have fallen victim to this cruel reality. And I know that the power of this cruel reality does not rest on those armed men or on President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Actually, as it came out from the President’s mouth he is only the trustee of the following: The power rests on the popular society which holds this sinful ideology. Mr. Rajapakse cannot do anything other than to say ‘black’ to things this society calls ‘black’ and ‘white’ to things this society calls ‘white’. I have understood that this is a historical reality like the social illness described by Albert Camus in his novel The Plague. So I am not shocked. Daughter, I don’t have a party and I am not part of any organization, therefore, there is no organization to work on behalf of me. Even the people whom I represent don’t know that I am suffering because I work on behalf of them. I do not expect them to know about me. As I detached myself from kit and kin early in my life, there are no social connections, too. Under these circumstances, the only path open for someone like me, who does not have any value or respect in this society and therefore, who receives no help from anyone, is to walk alone the destined path. I select that option by my own will.

Daughter, isolation and humiliation of a person in danger is the same physical assassination but in a different form. In other words, it is part and parcel of the assassination. The characteristics of this other type of physical assassination is that the one being assassinated can watch how it is being carried out. This brutal pressure is exerted from the unknown gunman alias physical assassin who is in front and the known gunman alias soul assassin who is behind. This is completely different from the 1988/89 terror. I am experiencing this new kind of terror now. I am not the first person who is facing this situation but I would like to be the last one. I believe that this situation will not last long. Sometimes I may not see the future peaceful time following this fearful situation. But I am confident that the future will be better. The most important thing is to sacrifice the present for that future.

What I am writing here now is part of my conclusions I have reached after studying what happened to comrade Sunanda Deshapriya. Daughter, the society we are living in is indebted to him. But my belief is that no one took this into consideration to help him. I don’t know where he is living today and there is no way to find this out. At least, I was not able to render any help to him. But I think that for him, as well as for the whole society and for children like you to whom the future belongs, someone should make a detailed description of the cruel reality that everyone has become a victim of. I do not have the education to do that. I am not the right person. Because of that, even in these difficult and uncertain circumstances, what I am trying to do is to write down the present reality for the future in the hope that someone else will complete this in the time to come. My wish is that I will have enough time to do just that.

Daughter, please do not keep this note after reading it and say hello to Bertie Uncle.

Thank you,
Prageeth Uncle”

Caste in modern Sri Lankan politics

2010-02-26T15:48:00.003+01:00

by Michael Roberts

In a recent intervention in the www.transcurrents.com (10 Feb. 2010), Lakruwan de Silva has conjectured that caste rivalry between the Govigama and Karava contributed in a secondary manner towards the rift between the Rajapakse clan and General Fonseka.1 In his broad survey of caste undercurrents in the history of the Sinhalese, he also refers to the Kara-Govi rivalry that surfaced during the contest for the "Educated Ceylonese Seat" in the Legislative Council in British times in December 1911. In serendipitous coincidence a gentleman named Nadesan recently alluded to this famous occasion when the Govigama elite of that day is said to have backed Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan’s candidature and helped him defeat Dr. Marcus Fernando for this coveted post.2

Let me begin by clarifying the background to this contest. A coalition of Ceylonese activists from the Burgher, SL Tamil and Sinhalese communities had begun to exert pressure on the British rulers from circa 1906 seeking devolution of power. The British authorities responded in miserly fashion in 1910 with the Crewe-Macullum reforms conceding a modicum of expansion in the advisory Legislative Council and introducing the electoral principle for the "Burgher Seat" and the newly-created "Educated Ceylonese Seat;" while still maintaining the existing nominated seats.

Voting rights for both these new seats were determined by property and educational qualifications so that the electorates were tiny. Within the body of 2938 who exercised their votes for the Educated Ceylonese seat, the "Ceylon Tamils" made up 36.4 per cent of the voters and Sinhalese 56.4 percent.3 The Karava elite made up a significant proportion of the Sinhalese voters because of their success in both the educational and entrepreneurial paths of mobility.4 Therefore, they were able to field Marcus Fernando from a brilliant scholastic family that had secured twin-marriages with C. H. de Soysa’s daughters, thereby rendering the Fernandos part of the Warusahännadig? clan that commanded fabulous wealth. In this situation those Govigama activists who were Govigama-minded "did not consider themselves strong enough [to field a candidate] and took the pragmatic course of supporting … Ramanathan’s candidature."5 This emphasis needs a caveat. As Kumari Jaywardena has shown, not all the Govigama rich supported Ramanathan; he was so much a conservative that they preferred the mildly liberal Fernando.6

This caste alignment did not emerge out of the blue. There had been a long history of Kara-Govi rivalry in diverse quarters and at various social levels from the 1860s if not earlier. Let me detail some facets without claiming that this brief review is comprehensive.

Those with the closest affiliations with the British ruling class in Ceylon in the mid-nineteenth century were the educated Burgher elite and Govigama aristocrats from the mudaliyar class in the Low-Country, especially the Obeyesekere-Bandaranaike clans. But the Warusahännadig? de Soysas had amassed such wealth and prestige by the 1860s that they snaffled the right to feast the Duke of Edinburgh when he visited the island in 1870. The first-class Govigama were so miffed that they attempted to boycott this function.7

However, these Govigama families enjoyed other eminences: the British invariably appointed one of their educated sons to represent the Sinhalese as Nominated Member in the Legislative Council – a post that was re-designated "Nominated Low-Country Sinhalese Member" after the Kandyan aristocracy were given a nominated seat in the 1890s.

This monopoly was quickly challenged by the ambitious Kar?va. In 1894/95 they mounted a series of public meetings at the little towns of the south west quarter which presented the British with petitions supplicating the selection of James Peiris for this nomination. 8

At the same time one witnessed electoral competition for seats in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) between Govigama and Kar?va gentlemen cultivating electorates defined by restricted property/educational qualifications. Among those who entered the CMC in the 1890s were the Jayewardene brothers, Hector and Justus on the one hand, and, on the other, C. M Fernando, younger brother of Marcus Fernando. Subject to correction I believe that one will find that Hector Jayewardene and C. M. Fernando contested each other for the post of President of the Law Students Union in the 1890s. It was Hector Jayewardene in fact – more than the Senanayakes, correcting Lakruwan de Silva – who is said to have marshalled Govigama votes in favour of Ramanathan in 1911.

All this, of course, was elite-level politics that might seem rarified folly to those attached to grass-roots advocacy. They should pause awhile. Caste jostling for status had deep roots. From the mid-nineteenth century Karava and Sal?gama personnel challenged the conventional claims to superior ritual status attached to the Govigama. These challenges were mostly in the Sinhala medium and generated a pamphlet ‘war’ at different moments in the period 1868-1911. While several were written under pseudonyms, it is known that Itihasa (1876) was the work of the Karava monk, Weligam? Sri Sumangala thera and that the Govigama reply in 1877 was composed by a collective that included Hikkaduv? Sri Sumangala thera and some lawyers.

The respectability of the authors did not constrain them from the use of vituperative, and even filthy, language. The vernacular-educated intelligentsia, among them the journalist, G. D. Pälis Appuh?my, were at the centre of these writings in pamphlet and newspaper. 9

Such contestation was not a product of the British period. Malalgoda has revealed that the questioning of Govigama hegemony and exclusiveness began in the eighteenth century in response to a royal decree in 1765 that restricted higher ordination to the city of Kandy and its chapters. Non-Govigama laity and monks combined to effect upasampad? ceremonies in the lowlands in 1772 and 1795. Then, between 1799 and 1813 five caste-specific parties went to Burma and returned with ordained monks of unquestionably authenticity. Three of the groups were Sal?gama, one Dur?va and the other Kar?va.10 The preponderance of Sal?gama is no accident. Their clout in the cinnamon trade in this era meant that they had both the economic means and political networks to initiate such moves.

These examples of caste rivalry – within an incomplete survey on my part – would seemingly give weight to Nadesan’s scathing criticism of one of my recent short essays on the ground that "CASTE was more important than RACE and religion" in the British period (see fn. 2). Not so. Nadesan’s bizarre misreading of my essay on "The Sinhala Mind-Set" is guilty of oversimplification11 and subsumed by a form of either/or reasoning. The political arena is a complex one, involving many strands and many alliances that could shift according to context. Jostling, competition and hostility between the different religious collectives on the one hand and, on the other, between ethnic communities (usually known then as "communities") co-existed with caste competition within the Tamil and Sinhalese communities.

Within such a situation at any point of time particular sets of actors in a specific context may be directed strongly by Factor or Identity X, say the caste factor. This does not mean that Factors and/or Identities Y and Z are weak or non-existent; rather they are on hold – a metaphor from the world of air-traffic control – because deemed irrelevant to that specific context. Indeed, for a good part of the twentieth century (and the centuries before) one became Sinhala by being Govigama, Dur?va or whatever, just as one became "Thamil" by being Vell?lar, Kar?iyar, Koviyar etc (though Pallar and Nalavar were occasionally deemed "not Thamil" in the pure sense12). For a good part of the twentieth century it would have been rare for a Govigama family to seek a Vell?lar spouse, so that cross-caste marriages of this type – or any type – arose as exceptions among the highly Westernised ‘decaste-ified’ elements of society, or in the urban slums and shanties or in the malaria-ridden backwoods.

The interlacing complications can be seen in the manner in which the mobilisation of caste fraternities within the Sinhala Buddhist world energised the resistance of Buddhists to the evangelical imperialism of the Christian orders in the British period. Their ‘training’ in caste polemics during the late Dutch and early British periods stood them in good stead when they had to face up to the missionary challenge on platform as well as print. Indeed, to follow Malalgoda, the presence of energetic Buddhist chapters organised on caste lines provided a multifaceted basis for Buddhist revitalisation.

Thus, in the late nineteenth century one sees Buddhist monks who had espoused the superiority of their caste working together with monks from other castes in movements directed against Christian privileges. Likewise, in the 1890s and 1900s the jostling for political position between the Fernandos and the Jayewardenes did not prevent their cooperation in the polite agitations of the Ceylon National Association – an elite political grouping that challenged notions of white superiority and the racial bar by pressing for the Ceylonisation of the Ceylon Civil Service.

In opposition to Nadesan, I note that the movement of Buddhist revival did not derive inspiration from Arumugar Navalar’s sturdy programme of Hindu revitalisation. Young & Jebanesan are firm on this point: "There is … no evidence at all of a pan-Lankan, Ceylonese … reaction to Chritianity at any time in the history of the island’s encounter with that religion."13 Both movements of religious revitalisation were reactions to the denigration heaped on native "idolatry" by Christian missionaries, disparagement that was sharpened by the general circumstances of political subordination and White racism.14

Many people today are aware of the movement of Buddhist revival that developed from the mid-nineteenth century and are familiar with the ardent attempts of Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) on this front. It is also known that what were called the "riots of 1915" – involving assaults on the Muslims in the south western regions – erupted as a result of disputes surrounding religious processions.15 Similar disputes had generated a clash between Catholics and Buddhists at Kotahena in 1883.16

Such incidents have enticed some scholars to downplay the significance of Sinhala-Tamil competition and the collective identities which sustain such rivalry in the decades before universal franchise (1931) and/or independence (1948).17 The historians’ overwhelming focus on the activities of English-speaking Ceylonese elites who pressed for constitutional devolution in the vocabulary of liberalism has compounded this leaning.18 As a result, the force of Sinhala nationalist thinking in the six decades 1870 to 1931 has not received adequate weight in many writings.

I delineate this period because of the availability of printed material in Sinhala in newspapers, pamphlets and books; and on the foundations provided by my research work on this type of material in the period before 1915. There was a recurrent discourse among the vernacular intelligentsia that was alarmed by the degree to which Westernised lifeways were threatening Sinhala culture. The dangers were regarded as both cultural and economic. The reliance on Western imports was adversely remarked upon. The widespread adoption of a Westernised life style and the diffusion of Christianity among the Sinhala people were seen as marks of their degeneration as well as instruments which furthered this process—undermining their gunadharma (religious virtues), kulacaritra (traditional customs) and bhashava (language).19

The tone of the articles, pamphlets, novels and plays which exhorted the Sinhalese varied from the didactic to the biting satire of the zealot. An index of the convictions that drove these ideologues is provided by the consistency with which they birched the Sinhalese themselves—indeed to such a degree that one can speak of self-flagellation. Perhaps the sharpest diatribes were directed against those Sinhalese who were aping the Westerner. In Piyad?sa Sirisena’s writings such Sinhalese are even rendered into a distinct ethnic category: the samkara (mixed) and/or the tuppahi (low and mixed).20

Indeed, the titles of Sirisena’s early novels, Apata Vecca De [1909] and Maha Viyavula [1916], capture this anxiety in capsule form. The Api here, in his thinking, are the truly indigenist Sinhalese of the hinterland, the people of the rata as distinct from the people of the thota. Numba ratay da? thotay da? asked the hero Jayatissa from Rosalin21 when he fell in love at first sight [first novel in 1906]. That is, the Sinhalese of the littoral, significantly Westernised and/or Christian, are not authentic natives of the soil. They are potentially para and tuppahi. Therefore, we see here the early makings of J?tika Hela Urumaya thinking.

Diatribes were not confined to the inauthentic Sinhalese. Abuse was also heaped on the ultimate source of threat, the paradesakkara (low and vile foreigners). These foreigners included the British, the kocci (Malay?lis), the hamba (Indian Moors), the marakkala (all Moors), the hetti (Chettiyars), the javo (Malays), the bhai (Borahs), and the para demala (low and vile Tamils).22 In one of Anagarika Dharmapala’s essays in 1911 there is even a polemic directed against the kocci demal?.23

Nor should one forget that at the same time as Dharmapala’s campaign there was a strand of Sinhala patriotism that concentrated on the purification of the Sinhala language, identified specifically as the Hela language. Munid?sa Kumar?tunga (1887-1944) may have been its modern-day flag-bearer, but this emphasis had several forerunners as well as others (e.g. Jayantha Weerasekera) who bore the torch into the post-1948 era.24

Sinhala nationalism, in other words, had many strands and was not confined to a Sinhala Buddhist revivalist thread. Sinhala Christians participated in some currents of the nationalist awakening such as the Sinhalese National Day campaign of the 1910s. Nor were all the Westernised Ceylonese who pressed for constitutional reform by knocking at British doors, such men as D. B. Jayatilaka and D. S. Senanayake, wholly removed from nativist ideals and their associated prejudices. Though it has yet to be documented in thorough ways, there are suspicions that threads of communalist thinking resided within the Senanayake clan.

However, when Buddhist activists approached Senanayake as Prime Minister in the early 1950s to complain about undue Christian influence in high politics and the decline of Buddhism, he is said to have dismissed this contention in his pragmatic style. Such a response laid DS and his successors open to the charge of being "brown sahibs" catering to the Westernised Ceylonese. The epithet "tuppahi" (pronounced thuppahi) was part of the effective weaponry wielded against these elements of society.25

This line of nativist ideology coalesced in the mid-1950s with the vociferous hostility to the brown bourgeoisie presented by Leftist parties and those underprivileged. Thus, as we know full well, in 1955-56 one saw the upsurge of the underprivileged marshalled within the coalition headed by SWRD Bandaranaike’s SLFP under the umbrella MEP. The targets were the privileged English-speaking community, Christians and the UNP.26

This combination drew its energies from a fusion of nativist thinking and radical socialist currents. In the result it attracted the vernacular speaking petit-bourgeoisie and even Tamils disposed towards the vernacular and/or the underclass. However, the cry of Sinhala-only privileged the Sinhala language over the Tamil and had economic implications. Therefore the political transformation by ballot in 1956 was seen by many Tamils as disadvantageous to their interests – as indeed it was. In this manner, Sinhala nativism and Sinhala linguistic nationalism moved to the front reaches of power on the basis of a democratic process and numerical weight compounded by a first-past-the-post electoral scheme.

Significantly, many motifs paraded by the Sinhala activists in the 1950s echoed themes that had been raised since the late nineteenth century. There was a considerable measure of continuity both in content of political expression and the type of personnel in the intermediary layers of society who were in the forefront of agitation.27

I do not need to dwell upon the consequences of this moment in Sri Lanka’s history, the "revolution of 1956" as it is sometimes referred to. The processes unleashed then, as we know full well, contributed substantially to the sharpening of the ethnic divide and the outbreak of a series of wars.

As vitally, the currents of Sinhala nationalism were sustained in subsequent decades by those generational cohorts associated with the upsurge in the 1950s and 60s as well as new generational forces. Two examples suffice. The JVP youth of 1967-71 who launched an insurrection in April 1971 were a new generation that was a product of the changes in the educational order that began in the 1940s; but in ideological terms they were both children of the "Old Left" and children of "1956." Thus, as a "New Left"they shared ‘kinship’ with the Leftists who were part of the alliance that brought the MEP-led-by-the-SLFP to power in 1956.

The anti-Tamil strains of thinking that resided within the JVP of Stage One were muted in the second stage of this party’s history from 1977-1983 when it attempted to entice Tamil radicals to their cause through political activity directed by Lionel Bopage and others. But, after the Presidential election of 1983, Wijeweera’s nativist and chauvinist leanings surfaced in full measure so that the period 1987-90 revealed this Sinhala ideological virulence in a powerful manner.

At the same time, the 1980s and 1990s witnessed the flowering of a strand of political rhetoric identified as Jatika Chinthanaya (Nationalist Thought). Two individuals linked to this stream of consciousness were middle class professionals who had been associated with Leftist circles in the 1950s and 1960s and can thereby be placed directly within the 1956 generations. One was Gunadasa Amerasekera, a dentist and frontline Sinhala novelist. The other was Nalin de Silva, a mathematician and university lecturer. Both were competent in Sinhala as well as English.

Serviced by such forces, these currents of Sinhala nativist thinking – ideologies that shaded both imperceptibly and in glaring fashion into chauvinism — emerged strongly under the aegis of the new SLFP during the presidential election of 2005. The manifesto known as Mahinda Chintanaya presented itself explicitly as the heir to the political triumph of 1956 at a moment when the strength of the LTTE was deemed a severe threat to the existence of state and people.

In one swoop, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his team stole the clothes of the JVP at the same time as they allied with the latter to win the Presidency stakes.28 They also had the Jatika Hela Urumaya as one of their allies. Thus a revamped SLFP, JVP and JHU in 2005 represented a powerful fusion of Sinhala bhumiputra thinking.

Having vested themselves with some of the JVP garments, once in power the Rajapaksa family and their SLFP were able to entice some members of the JVP into the fold — together with umpteen others from all parties snared by pork-barrel patronage. Today, the core JVP is alienated from the Rajapaksas and outside this combination, but has been severely weakened by the process. The presence of Champaka Ranawake and Upali Gammanpila in the corridors of power, however, implies that the engine room and masthead are both Sinhala populist and nativist – in short, that the governing SLFP regime is hardline bhumiputra. The horses of 1956 are riding the summits of the rata again.

* * * *

The caste factor may well have been relatively insignificant in the Presidential and parliamentary elections of the recent past. I have limited knowledge in this field, but I speculate that it has a bearing at the local level in the selection of parliamentary candidates and in sustaining some clusters of caste voting-blocs. I think that those who criticised Lakruwan have to attend, with provisos, to the blogger Rashan’s slashing note: "Cast [sic] is still a major factor in elections in Sri Lanka, go to Mathara Ambalangoda."29

Lakruwan’s main contention, however, is that Karava personnel figure disproportionately among the military officers who have been interjected by the government. DBS Jeyaraj’s marvellous work of investigative journalism has identified some of these men.30 We now need their ge names (the genitives) and locality of origin so that Lakruwan’s suggestion can be evaluated in empirical terms. On a priority grounds, however, one would think there is an operational logic in such a caste clustering. IF – note the stress on the "if" in the manner Jeyaraj — one mounts a subterranean revolutionary movement or coup plot, trust and loyalty are critical criteria in recruitment. This assemblage could be on a class basis as in the elite club-set involved in the failed officer/gentlemen coup of 1962.31

But such clandestine groupings could be based upon kin networks or school friendships. Where there is localised caste clustering, as in the Jaffna Peninsula and in some parts of the south, kin-affiliations and schoolmates at peer generational level are often weighted towards a caste core. The JVP leadership of the years 1967-71 seems to have contained a strong Karava core and in such areas as Elpitiya and Kegalle clusters of youth from the more depressed Wahumpura, Batgam and Rajaka castes were prominent. However, we can probably follow KM de Silva in seeing the caste factor as "secondary to the class factor" and the centrality of a "revolutionary ideology" as motivational inspiration forthis failed uprising.32

When a resistance mushroom known as the Tamil Liberation Organisation assembled in 1969 its key personnel seem to have been Karaiyar from the Valvettithurai locality, namely, Thangadurai, Kuttimani, Periya (Big) Sothi and Sinna (Small) Sothi, besides young 15-year-old Velupillai Pirapaharan. This cluster seems to have transmuted into the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) led initially by Thangadurai (aka Nadarajah Thangavelu), and Kuttimani (aka Selvarajah Yogachandran).

From the outset, the LTTE seems to have been sustained by a Karaiyar caste and peer-group network while the disappearance (by death, eviction or withdrawal) of capable Vellalar seniors36 in the years 1984-87 sustained the Karaiyar weightage within the top rungs of the LTTE in subsequent decades.

To my mind, however, Lakruwan’s article is more significant for the commentary it has attracted from various quarters. These blogs indicate that there are several people of various age ranges for whom caste is irrelevant if not abhorrent. However, a few swallows do not make a summer. One must be cautious about sociological generalisations relating to subterranean and interstitial currents of activity, namely caste networks which, for instance, operate in the organisation of Buddhist pilgrim groups heading from localities to hallowed sites.

What remains on the surface and hardly subterranean, however, are the virulent thoughts expressed in response to Lakruwan. Many of the bloggers hostile to his article seem to be products of the 1956 ideology. Their hostility to the caste factor has been aroused because they read it as a threat to the unity of the Sinhalese. Sinhala patriotism impels their vituperative reaction, including bile directed at Fonseka. They seek to protect the unitary state. In speaking as Sri Lankans they subsume the whole within their Sinhala sentiments. The issue of the part/whole relationship that I have underlined in my essay on "The Sinhala MindSet" resides below the surface … as powerfully as dangerously.

1The initial representation by De Silva is as conjecture but he subsequently adds this note: "Reports suggest that [the government] deftly and subtly played the caste card within the military to deny Fonseka the military vote. The President succeeded. In the ensuing post-poll purge of the military, the Karave have disproportionately been targeted. Other Karave generals have been sacked from the armed forces. Karave Buddhist monks had been arrested. Much to my chagrin, caste may still be alive in Sinhala Buddhist society, albeit as an undercurrent."

2 See "comment" in www.thuppahi.wordpress.com.

3 See Table 3 in Roberts in History of Ceylon, 1973, p. 283. Also see Jaywardena 2001: 335.

4 See Roberts 1973 and Kar?va, 1982 for illustrations of these processed of social and economic advancement

5 Roberts, Kar?va, 1982: 116.

6Jayawardena 2001: 336 referring to the Hewavitarnes and EG Jayawardene as examples.

7Some members of the Govigama aristocracy pursued this course, but those holding official position could not do so. For details, see Roberts et al, People Inbetween, 1989: 93.

8Roberts 1974: 561-64.

9 For details, see Roberts, Kar?va, 1982: 159-65; and for a list of pamphlets, pp. 336-40.

10 Malalgoda 1976. Also Malalgoda 1973, Roberts 1982: 133-40, and Young & Somaratna 1996.

11 My article was a brief Memo that did not attempt to survey the 19th and 20th centuries.

12"In the early 1970s some Vellalars expressly denied thatNalavrs and Pallars were Tamils" (Pfaffenberger 1994: 149).

13 Young & Jebanesan 1995: 33.

14 On Navalar, see Young & Jebanesan 1995 and Hellmann-Rajanayagam 1992.

15 On the issues that provoked such clashes, see my "The Imperialism of Silence," in Roberts 1994: chap. X and the details on the 1915 in chap. 5 [which latter is reprinted as chap 00 in my Confrontations, Colombo, 2009].

16Somaratna 1991.

17 One instance being the article by Nissan & Stirrat 1990.

18For the constitutional agitation see K. M. De silva 1973 and 1981. Also note Jayawardena 2001.

19 Roberts et al, People Inbetween, 1989: 10-21, 80-81.

20 Sirisena, Apate Vecca D?, 1954 [1909]: 9ff and Sucaric?darsaya, 1958: 126, 130.

21 Jayatissa saha Rosalin was Sirisena’s first novel published in the year 1906. See Amunugama 1979 and Roberts et al, 1989 for fuller analysis.

22 See "Rat? tibena ävul, apatama ve tävul" in Sinhala J?tiya, 1 June 1913. Sinhala J?tiya 30 March 1915: Sinhala Bauddhay?, 2 Jan 1915: translation of article by WDA Gunatilaka in the Sinhala J?tiya, March 1915 in Dowbiggin 1915b and Roberts et al, People Inbetween, 1989: 10-21.

23 Kocci Demal? (Malay?lam Tamil) is the title of his piece too (Sinhala Bauddhay?),14 Jan. 1910.

24See Dharmadasa 1992: 261-86.

25 Roberts et al, People Inbetween, 1989.

26 See Roberts, 1956 Generations, 1981 and "Political Antecedents," 1989; and Mervyn de Silva 19

27 See Roberts, 1956 Generations, 1981 and "Political Antecedents," 1989.

28 In effect they replicated the tactic of John Howard’s Liberal Party in the 200s when t it stole the platform of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party.

29 A blog comment within the Lakruwan article in transcurrents.

30 Major-General Jammika Liyanage; Major General Jayanath Perera; Major General Samantha Sooriyabandara; Major-General Mahesh Senanayake; Brigadier Bimal Dias; Brigadier Duminda Keppetiwalana; Brigadier Janaka Mohotti; Brigadier Athula Hennedige; Brigadier Wasantha Kumarapperuma; Lt-Colonel L. J. M. C. P. Jayasundera; Captain R. M. R. Ranaweera; Captain B. Krishantha.

31 See Horowitz 1980 & Roberts 1983.

32 KM de Silva 1981: 342. Also Jiggins 1979: 127-36. My comments are also informed by diluted memories of conversations with Paul Caspersz, Victor Ivan and Gamini Keerawella.

33 Sabaratnam 2009. Varatharaja Perumal [not Karaiyar] was also a key figure.

34 It was probably this locality-cum-Karaiyar affiliation that enabled Pirapaharan to join TELO circa 1981 when he briefly split from the LTTE after a clash with Uma Maheswaran (who was Vellalar).

35 Hellmann-Rajanayagam’s early review of the LTTE concluded that it was "a Karaiyar-led and dominated group" (1993: 274). Besides Pirapaharan, Baby Subramanium, Seelan, Victor, Mahattaya, Thilakar, Kittu and Kumarappa were Karaiyar.

36 for e. g., Ragavan, Radha, Tileepan, Ponnamman, Curdles and Rahim,

37For e. g. KP, Castro, Soosai, Nadesan. But note that Bhanu and probably Pottu Amman are Civiyar.

38 Ironically, but not surprisingly, the early LTTE leaders, R?gavan and Pirap?haran, also expressed some distaste for caste divisions and stressed the need for cross-caste unity in the Tamil struggle (Ragavan 2009 and Narayan Swamy 1994: 69).
Courtesy: The Island

Tamils distancing themselves from India

2010-02-26T15:38:00.002+01:00

By S. Sivathasan

In the Asian region, hardly any people have had such close cordiality as the Tamils of Sri Lanka with the people of Tamil Nadu and by extension with India. Ethnic affinity, linguistic homogeneity, cultural identity and physical proximity, all conduced to a remarkable harmony if not solidarity. Today all what remains is an edifice in ruins. Friends have turned foes. Admirers have become detractors. Where a bridge stood, there is now a chasm. Never the twain shall meet is the verdict of the percipient. Forget the North, turn East to China is the voice of those who dare.

Intellectual nourishment of the Tamils when they are young, commences with Tamil literature. Poets of high intellect spanning two millennia nurtured us. Judged by any standard, Thiruvalluvar of the first century and Bharathy of the twentieth were of world calibre. In between them were poets and scholars of great renown. The independence movement in India brought forth a galaxy that dazzled us with their brilliance. Gandhi and Nehru, Patel and Bose, Tagore and Aurobindo were scholars and leaders who commanded our admiration. We coveted their aura and lived in a world of make belief.

From such an India steeped in idealism, the Tamils of Sri Lanka looked for a perfect dispensation to the ethnic problem. Expectations were high, but what we got in 1987 was military invasion, though by invitation. The army of occupation certainly brought in negative benefits. Firstly, its brutality knocked the scales from our eyes. Destruction without restraint, death with unconcern and merciless assaults brought the people down from their ethereal heights. In the period October 1987 to march 1990, indignities of every description were visited on over 50 percent of the Tamil population in the North East of Sri Lanka. Tamils have vowed, never again to look back. India stands banished from their consciousness. The void is now clear for the most formidable power of the future-China-to enter. Benevolence will replace malevolence.

What caused this change of stance? Dissipation of trust. A whole picture fell into place with a series of events. A quarter century of space gave sufficient opportunity to the Tamil intelligentsia to read, discuss, interact, reflect and arrive at a clear consensus.

Facts were gathered and their veracity ascertained. Strands of discernment when woven together made the motivation of India clearly visible. The overtones became apparent and there was evidence. It is idle to talk of the permanent nature of interest, permanence of friendship or impermanence of enmity. The emerging reality is the distancing of Tamils from India.

At the height of the war in 2008-2009, the defence advisor of India made a special visit to Sri Lanka with one message. Buy arms from India only. Never from China or Pakistan. It was tantamount to saying kill the Tamils only with Indian bullets. Could a more grotesque demand have ever been made? What has been the drama from the eighties? When a leaf rustles in Sri Lanka, the sabre rattles in India. Pretence was the posture. Inaction was the actuality. Forcing concessions to Tamils was prated loud. With what results? Under what law? By what authority and through what means? One is wont to ask.

It turned out that an aggrieved minority clamouring for justice, had expected assistance from an imagined benefactor. That foreign government however unleashed its military might on an unsuspecting and battered people. "Know your friends, know your enemies." This simple truth cryptically presented by Mao Tse Tung, is fundamental in political or military strategy. It eluded the grasp of Tamils. The enemy having clearly calculated every step, feigned friendship. Tamils danced attendance upon the counterfeit from 1983. In 2009, they lamented that the vengeful had wreaked vengeance. What else could have happened?

The objective was clear. Destabilise the country — Sri Lanka. Identify the aggrieved ethnic entity—Tamils. From this premise events followed in logical sequence. Select impressionable youth, make them militants, train them and promote infiltration. Be conscious of the need to manipulate them at will. Therefore keep them on a tight leash. When the dominant group did not lend itself to manipulation, other groups were proliferated. When the latter were found to be Lilliputians, they were decreed to be on par with Gulliver and conferred equal stature at Thimpu. To resolve the Tamil problem, fake discussions were held to give the appearance of serious talks. Beneath the veneer was the red claw. An agreement was forged with the government of Sri Lanka for the ostensible purpose of enforcing peace. The Indian army however launched its mission only to eliminate militancy and to subdue the people whom militancy represented. True to purpose, it became a Frankenstein. The occupation army killed, pillaged and destroyed. Not even a semblance of remorse was shown either then or up to now. The people at large suffered the loss and shared the privation helplessly.

Germans compensated the Jews in full for the loss sustained by the latter during the Nazi regime. It was a gesture of admission of guilt and acceptance of responsibility for cruelty inflicted. The aggrieved were assisted to rebuild their lives, develop the nation and move on with a fund of goodwill. Humanity admired the culture and refinement of the Germans. To compensate the Tamils and others who suffered loss, should India await a request? Justice demands it. Honourable conduct will be appreciated. Those subjected to indignity and deprivations know well their cruel nature. Their goodwill will help forward movement.

There was a category of thought which outlined certain ideas. When a danger to Tamils is sensed, India will swoop in on Sri Lanka, upbraid her, pretend to rescue the Tamils, foist an instant solution and march back to Delhi after its mission is accomplished. Why should India intervene? So questions the cynic. The charlatan answers—the security of India is tied up with the stability of Sri Lanka. Therefore India is obliged to assuage her (India’s) concerns. Courting the Tamils composing 13 percent of the population is a surer bet than getting 75 percent Sinhalese to their side. The question arises: why? The Tamils of Sri Lanka have an umbilical chord relationship with the Tamils of Tamil Nadu. The latter will rather embrace immolation than see the Tamils suffer. New Delhi unable to withstand needling from Tamil Nadu will intervene in Sri Lanka, whatever the norms governing international relations. So runs the argument. The reasoning is weird logic at its convoluted best. How well has this worked and what has India contributed to the Tamils in the last quarter century, the cynic asks. The charlatan is dumbfounded, but stutters 13th Amendment.

India has a quasi-federal constitution. The most inappropriate model to frame a political arrangement for the Tamilian predicament in the Sri Lankan situation! Yet the commencing point of political deliberations from the Indian side was that no devolution for the Tamils would go beyond the devolutionary parameters of the Indian constitution. With this preconceived and unrealistic limitation, all discussions were skewed from the very beginning. The devolution exercise was thus poisoned at its very source. The result was a caricature of a settlement that was embodied in the 13th Amendment. It is basic that any political solution should be home grown. The contending parties have to thrash out issues and evolve strategies which can be worked out only over time. There can be no finality as if a perfect document with the last comma in place and the last ‘i’ dotted were an eternal guarantor of Tamil expectations. Experience and bitter knowledge mandate that Tamils have to disengage their sights from foreign capitals, particularly from Delhi and Chennai. What has been realized in 30 years? Only shameful failures and shameless betrayals! "Was the 60 year domestic experience any the better?" Tamils more particularly would ask with cogent logic. An alternative needs to be evolved. It is left to fresh initiatives.

Bickering needs to be drowned in a sea of economic activity and social growth. A good beginning has been made with the advent into Sri Lanka of the foremost Asian power, China. Aid for power plants will make a significant impact when all three phases are complete. Harbour development is great in itself, but the direction it points to is far greater. At Hambantota lies a potential Shenzhen and China can make it happen. Part of the Northern railway and the road network to be delivered in the North by China are sure to resonate well with the Tamils. They will whet the appetite of the people of North East for more aid, more projects, more growth and greater Chinese presence. Special Economic Zones concept is a vehicle to lift the NE from its present state. Closer rapport for a century at least will be good for the nation and better by the Tamils.

When a finger is pointed, a fool looks at the finger. The wise man looks at the direction. So goes a Chinese saying. ‘The God That Failed’ can no longer evoke homage or even respect. Temples of worship are wanted anew. The need for this change can be seen conspicuously.
Courtesy:The Island

A Man Full Of Passionate And Selfless Intensity

2010-02-26T15:18:00.003+01:00

By Charles Sarvan

Paul Caspersz, S. J. ; "A New Culture For A New Society: Selected Writings 1945 – 2005"

Father Paul Caspersz went to school in Colombo, entered the Society of Jesus in 1942, and was ordained a priest 10 years later. He read Politics and Economics at Oxford and, returning to the island, was a teacher till 1971. A year later, he co-founded the Satyodaya Centre for Social Research and Encounter, Kandy. New Culture, marking Paul Caspersz becoming an octogenarian, testifies to a remarkable man, and a remarkable life of quiet, sustained, service to the poor and the disadvantaged, animated by the spirit of Decree IV of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus: “The reconciliation of men and women among themselves, which their reconciliation with God demands, must be based on justice.”

Caspersz has a special sympathy for the Upcountry (or Plantation) Tamils because they are among the most wretched of “the wretched of the earth” (Frantz Fanon), suffering from both the vertical and horizontal lines of ethnicity and class: “not only was the estate isolated from the village but, through a series of vicious and restrictive laws, regulations and customs, each estate was carefully sealed off from every other” (p. 32). The surrounding Sinhalese villages deeply resented both the expropriation of their land and the importation of foreigners, but unfortunately their anger found expression not against the real villains – British imperialism, the tea companies and their managers – but against the hapless victims.

Callously exploited by estate management (motivated by profit and heedless of the human cost); resented by the Sinhalese; betrayed by some of their leaders, theirs has been a most unfortunate fate. New Culture traces the sorry story, independence (1948) bringing the deprivation of citizenship, disenfranchisement and, in the case of thousands, expatriation (not repatriation) to India. Caspersz argues that, given the long passage of time, these folk should no longer be seen as “Indian Tamil”. The “ethnic origins of the overwhelming majority of (all) the people now living in the island are Indian, and it is highly probable that the origins of the great majority are South Indian” (p. 1. Emphasis added). Unafraid, wishing to provoke thought, Caspersz argues that if the plantation folk are “Indian Tamil,” then the Sinhalese are “Indian Sinhalese” (p. 18).

On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1942, Japanese dive-bombers attacked Colombo. There was general panic, shops and hotels were closed, and the (British) Government of Ceylon, fearing the reaction of the plantation workers, sent Deputy Controller of Labour, M. Rajanayagam to reassure them. The plantation folk were puzzled at being asking whether they intended to leave the island: Our forefathers lie buried under the tea bushes. ‘We will not leave the plantations’ (Sithamperam Nadesan, A History of the Up-Country Tamil People in Sri Lanka. 1993 : 140). It was home — the only home they had ever known.

Caspersz acknowledges that he had welcomed the Land Reform Law of 1972, not anticipating that nationalisation would lead to Tamil plantation workers being ordered out of the estates, often without notice, “hungry, homeless and helpless” (p. viii).

Misled by racialists

The Sinhalese are by nature one of the friendliest people in the world but (they) can be easily but diabolically misled by Sinhalese racialists, who stop at nothing and are stopped by nothing, not even by compassion, the kindness and the non-violence of Buddhism, in order to whip up hatred against the Tamils to a frenzy. “The estates are now ours,” they shrieked. “Get out!” And the Tamil workers on many estates close to the Sinhalese villagers left the estates where some of them had lived for generations defenceless, friendless, their hearts in the dust like a tea bush uprooted, to roam the streets of the cities and live off garbage bins (p. 35)

Not surprisingly, there is collective amnesia: for example, someone I knew, a Kandyan, retired planter, disclaims any knowledge of this. Caspersz is aware of the suffering of Sinhalese villagers, but cautions against a “dangerously divisive” competition of misery: “Both estate workers and poor peasants suffer oppression. To ask where the oppression is greater is much less important than to end it, both on the estate and in the village” (p. 36).

Ethnicity is the dominant problem in Sri Lanka (p. 78), and Caspersz pleads for a united nation that permits and encourages diversity (p. 74). Unity does not mean uniformity; integration is not assimilation; pluralism should be welcomed and celebrated. The ethnic conflict is totally unnecessary, and a tragic waste. After all, Sinhalese caste groups such as the karavas, the salagamas and the duravas were “originally South Indian immigrants who over a period of centuries assimilated so successfully with the local population as to make everyone, even themselves, oblivious of their origins” (p 80). The irony is that “the vast majority of the Tamils would not want separation if there was genuine redress of their grievances” (p. 83). To support this argument, Caspersz quotes from the 1970 election manifesto of the Federal Party:

“It is our firm conviction that division of the country in any form would be beneficial neither to the country nor to the Tamil-speaking people. Hence we appeal to the Tamil-speaking people not to lend their support to any political movement that advocates the bifurcation of our country” (p. 83).

The Sinhalese who exclude the option of secession are, for that very reason, all the more obliged to work for genuine pluralistic acceptance and equality (p. 86). The nature and shape of politics is formed by people and parties: “Whenever one of the two main Sinhala parties tries to redress the legitimate grievances of the Tamils, the other accuses it of betrayal or surrender. The tragedy is that there is no question of principle but of sheer dishonest political gain” (p. 28).

Religious teaching

As I have written elsewhere, unfortunately religious teaching does not determine the nature of society; rather, it’s the people who determine the nature of religion. The same religion – whether Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or Islam – at different times and places finds different expression: compassionate or cruel, gentle or harsh, tolerant or assertive. Christianity, born in the Middle East, was adopted by the West, and later exported to the non-Western world. It accompanied Western imperialism — and the exploitation and humiliation that imperialism visited upon the conquered.

Secondly, it came dressed in the “clothes” of Western culture and, rather than adapting Christianity to Sri Lankan culture, converts adapted Western ways. It is not surprising that many Sri Lankan Buddhists look upon Christianity with resentment. (Recently, the situation has been worsened by the methods and motives of certain USA-based evangelical groups.) Caspersz does not deny the complicit role the church played in the past.

For instance, the church stressed law and order, but did not question the moral rightness of that externally imposed (British imperial) “order”. A good Christian was held to be one who went to church, was concerned with the sacrament and the holy spirit – not with “inter-human justice” (p. 142). But since we are social beings, to be a good Christian is not only to do “social service” but also to be active in endeavouring to bring about social change. Rather than being kind within an unkind system, one must work towards changing the unjust order of things. What is desired, and longed for, is not charity but justice.

A good Christian life means a good social life – not only prayer, however pious and emotional. Rather than being spiritual preparation and prelude, prayer has become an easy substitute for action. Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount must be given a literal (not a conveniently figurative) interpretation. The beatitudes are the beatitudes of the poor and the oppressed (p. 100). As Marx pointed out, for profit, we are willing to disregard human laws, and if “turbulence and strife” will result in material gain, so be it (see, p. 192). Marx did not claim that “the economic element is the only determining one” (p. 194). Indeed, it is this mechanically reductionist attitude that made Marx exclaim towards the end of his life, “Thank God that I am not a Marxist!” (ibid). Caspersz clarifies his position:

“The God I believe in is the God of Justice, the God of Justice — Love. The God I believe in is the God who in Jesus became human, a colonised and anti-imperialist human, a worker, immensely concerned about the loss of human freedom and the oppression of the poor” (p. 195).

And so it is that a Christian priest quotes Communist Che Guevara: “Let me say, with the risk of appearing ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by strong feelings of love” (p. 102); a Jesuit cites Che Guevara citing Jesus in his last letter to his children:

“Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone anywhere in the world. That is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary. Jesus of Nazareth was guided above all by just such ardent love” (p. 103).

As for the role of Christians in the ethnic conflict, while almost all Buddhists are Sinhalese, and all Hindus are Tamil, the Christian congregation consists of Sinhalese and Tamils. Therefore, Christians have a better opportunity and, following from that, a greater duty, to work for inter-ethnic understanding and harmony.

Developing nations

Development is a frequently encountered word, and countries like Sri Lanka are sometimes (hopefully) described as “developing” nations. But what does development mean in practice? “Often and deliberately, the World Bank-IMF complex hides its real intentions behind difficult phrases” (p. 256). When international organisations think, plan and carry out “development” projects, the poor are peripheral (p. 241); the centre is occupied by “economic growth which means the making of more and more money” (pp. 241-2). It is assumed that the more material possessions and comforts a person or a nation has, “the more fulfilment is there of the capacity of that person or nation to be” (p. 279).

A distinction must be made between needs and wants. As Gandhi pointed out, there is enough in the world for everyone’s needs, but not enough for everyone’s greed (p. 250). Those active in “development” should remember the Mahatma’s words: “Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him” (p. 240). Marx wrote that religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress, and the protest against real distress. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless world” (p. 299).

Development, while having to do with the economy, the material, must also have the spiritual dimension of devotion to humanity, to truth, goodness, beauty, equity and justice (p. 247). In that sense, one can be spiritual without being religious. Caspersz concludes that the opposite of religion is not atheism but idolatry, the idolatry of material possession, status, snobbery, false values and power. Oscar Wilde observed that we know the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Marcus Aurelius asked himself (Meditations) how one could estimate the value of a person, and answered that a possible way was by the things to which that person gave value. It does not mean that one should not take (using contemporary parallels) an interest in fashion or cricket — there is a difference between value, the things that are really important to a person, and her or his interests.

As Caspersz observes, some books do not pulsate, do not bleed (p. 19) but, moved by love, sympathy and indignation, he himself writes with power and passion about “this once happy, but now so tragic, land (p. 19). Yeats (‘The Second Coming’) says that the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity, but Caspersz, being among the best, is full of a passionate and selfless intensity. He is one of those to whom the miseries of the world are misery, and will not let them rest (Keats, Fall of Hyperion). New Culture is an attempt to help in the creation of a new culture (a new way of life) and so, a new society, a “paradise isle” (tourist slogan) in far more important terms than landscape and scenery. A man who has rendered long and dedicated service performs yet another in making this collection available to the public.

“For good is the life ending faithfully” (Wyatt, 1503-1542).
Courtesy: The Sunday Leader
(charlessarvan@yahoo.com)

Global Capitalism and Devastation in Haiti

2010-01-24T16:20:00.002+01:00

Global Capitalism and Devastation in Haiti

by Tanya Golash-Boza / January 18th, 2010

The earthquake in Haiti has caused the whole world to spin around and look at the “poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.” When we look, we see corpses, crying children, wounded mothers, desperate fathers, and other examples of human tragedy.

What you see when you look at the images of Haiti depends in large part on your perspective and knowledge of the country that shares an island with the Dominican Republic. For this reason, I think it is important to share my own perspective on what I observe when I see pictures of people desperate for a bucket of water or a bowl of rice.

Many people say this is a time to act, not to speak. But, really, what can I do? I am in Santo Domingo, a few hours drive from Port-au-Prince, but I have no on-the-ground skills that would help people in Haiti. I can send supplies in the many caravans that leave Santo Domingo each day. I have done so, and will continue to do so. As a writer, however, I think the best I can do is to think about Haiti, write about Haiti, and tell people why this is happening to Haiti and what it means for the rest of us.

You may critique this effort as opportunism — using the human tragedy for my own political purposes. To that charge, I say, this is the moment when people are interested in Haiti, so this is the time to tell the story of Haiti. This story is not unique to Haiti. The story of pillage and plunder and coups and the CIA is the story of much of the Third World. The story of global inequality is the story of capitalism. Except for, in Haiti, it goes back right to the beginning of capitalism.

Haiti, led by revolutionary Touissant L’Ouverture, defeated France in a war for its independence in 1804 — making it the first non-slave republic in the Americas. After losing the war, the French demanded reparations from Haiti, to the tune of 150 million gold francs. This was eventually reduced to 90 million gold francs — the equivalent of over $20 billion current US dollars. Haiti did not finish paying this crippling debt until 1947. Haiti provided more wealth to France than any of its other colonies prior to Haiti’s independence. After independence, the debt prevented Haiti from gaining a solid economic footing. France, in contrast, has flourished.

Throughout the 19th century, the United States and the rest of the Americas kept a close eye on Haiti, doing what they could to prevent any of the other nations and colonies from experiencing a major slave revolt. The specter of Haiti sent fear through the hearts of plantation owners throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Twentieth century Haitian history is marked by US interventions, occupations, and interference. Haiti was occupied by the United States military from 1915 to 1934. From 1957 to 1951, Haiti was ruled by “Papa Doc” Duvalier, a brutal dictator who was backed by the United States because of his anti-communist stance. When “Papa Doc” passed away, his son, “Baby Doc” became President. He ruled Haiti under the same reign of terror until he was finally overthrown in 1986. In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was democratically elected by the Haitian people — the first democratically elected president of Haiti. Eight months later, he was ousted in an effort orchestrated by the CIA. In a twist of events, US-backed forces restored Aristide to power in 1994, and the US military occupied Haiti from 1994 to 2000. Haiti was occupied again by US and UN forces in 2004. UN forces continue to occupy Haiti to this day.

The constant influence and interventions of the United States and Europe have kept Haiti a poor and tremendously unequal nation. A 7.0 earthquake is a horrible event whenever it strikes on or near a land mass. However, the proportions of the disaster were much greater in Haiti because of its poverty. Over twenty years ago, in 1989, a 7.0 earthquake struck the Bay Area in Northern California. In that quake, 63 people were killed. In Haiti, the Red Cross estimates that as many as 50,000 people have died in Haiti. Already, thousands of people have been buried in mass graves.

Poverty exacerbates natural disasters for many reasons. Some of these reasons are the poor structures people inhabit, overpopulation in urban areas, deforestation of hillsides, and a lack of an adequate infrastructure.

When “Baby Doc” was in power in Haiti, the Haitian business community and the United States developed a plan to implement neoliberal reforms that would take Haitians out of rural poverty and into the modern world. As a “modern” nation, Haiti could take advantage of its location close to the United States and supply cheap consumer goods to its wealthier neighbor.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) developed “aid” programs in Haiti that were designed to transform subsistence farmers into laborers for export-oriented farming. Peasants that could not find jobs as farm laborers could go to urban areas and work in the newly built low-wage sweatshops making T-shirts for Walt Disney Corporation and other US-based companies.

The farming for export idea failed and there were not nearly enough jobs for the working poor in the cities. The “development” plan did not work, and Haitians were left worse off. Of course, the USAID and other initiators of the plan never fixed the disaster they created. Eventually, the “American planners and Haitian elites decided that perhaps their development model didn’t work so well in Haiti, and they abandoned it,” leaving Haiti worse off than before.

Failed development initiatives left Port-au-Prince extraordinarily vulnerable to natural disasters. USAID initiatives in the countryside combined with dumping of US-subsidized agricultural products forced peasants out of subsistence farming and into the cities to seek out survival. Many of these urban migrants live in houses made of cinderblock or other substandard materials that are very susceptible to earthquake damage. The fact that so many people live in inadequate housing structures adds significantly to the destruction.

Poverty and underdevelopment have also led to deforestation. People too poor to afford kerosene or gas for cooking turn to wood for fuel. In addition, European and US companies have been mining Haiti’s natural resources (cement, marble, granite, aggregate, gold and copper) and razing forests for lumber for decades. The extreme deforestation of Haiti makes the country more vulnerable to landslides and earthquakes.

The story of Haiti — a nation that broke the rules from the beginning by standing on its own two feet — is the story of how global capitalism works to keep most people in poverty. When Haiti won its independence from France, France and its allies ensured through military means that Haiti paid its debt — and much more — to France. When investors in the US were looking for a source of cheap labor, they looked to Haiti. Maintaining global inequality though military force and profiting off of cheap labor from poor countries is how global capitalism works — or does not work, according to your perspective.

The earthquake in Haiti is a prime example of how unbridled capitalism kills. For this reason, it is crucial to think and to talk about Haiti, in addition to doing what we can to avoid as many deaths and injuries as possible during the current crisis. Perhaps then we can prevent the same mistakes from being committed in Haiti as they have elsewhere in the aftermath of disasters. Perhaps then we can truly rebuild Haiti, for the Haitians.

Tanya Golash-Boza: Assistant Professor of Sociology and American Studies at the University of Kansas,USA

Indian leaders mourn Jyoti Basu' death

2010-01-18T17:07:00.002+01:00

Kolkata (by Bhavesh ): As veteran Communist leader Jyoti Basu breathed his last on Sunday here at the AMRI Hospital at 11.47 a.m. after a multiple-organ failure, the nation lost one of its finest political leaders and a man of masses in him.
The grief of Jyoti Basu’s demise overwhelmed the entire political fraternity, as leaders expressed their heartfelt condolences as their last tribute to the Communist patriarch. He will always be remembered not just as the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal but also a leader who always stood by ethics in all seasons of his political career.
Union Finance Minister and head of West Bengal State Congress Pranab Mukherjee said: “He was architect of first United Progressive Alliance government. The nation lost a great Parliamentarian in him.”
Basu remained chief minister of West Bengal for 24 years in his long political career. He held Chief Minister’s post for five times.
Expressing her grief on the passing away of Jyoti Basu, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, “Basu was a leader of stature. I always admired him for his worth ethics.”
Conveying his condolence to Jyoti Basu, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely said: “We have learnt a lot from him. He was such a tall political personality who worked for the poor in his lifetime.”
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari described Jyoti Basu as “a leader who did politics of principles.”
An aggrieved Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who wanted Jyoti Basu to occupy Prime Minister’s post as the head of coalition, said: “ In Jyoti Basu’s death, a great era has come to its end.”
Communist Party of India leader D.Raja described Basu as “the finest Communist leader”.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his condolence letter to the departed leader’s son Chandan Basu, described his father as a legendary leader of the country.
“I was deeply grieved to learn of the sad demise of your father Jyoti Basu. The passing away of Basu from the scene marks the end of an era in the annals of Indian politics. In a political career spanning more than six decades, the veteran communist leader steered his party to power in West Bengal , leaving a legacy of uninterrupted rule by the Left Front that he forged through his leadership and legendary skills in building consensus,” Dr. Singh said.
“During his more than 20 years at the helm of affairs in West Bengal, he proved himself to be one of the most able administrators and politicians of independent India . He was a powerful regional voice in the national political scene and helped to strengthen Indian federalism,” he added.
Dr.Singh said he had the opportunity to work with Basu and had always turned to him for his sagacious advice on all matters, whether they related to West Bengal or to issues of national importance.
“His advice was statesmanlike but always pragmatic and based on unshakable values that he championed throughout his political career,” he said.
Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram, on this occasion said: “It is a sad day for us as we remember the great son of India. He has served for many decades, not only the people of West Bengal, but India...he dedicated his entire life to the nation. He was a great patriot, great democrat and a great human.”
“He suffered a lot for the last fortnight. I am deeply sad and offer my sincere condolences to the people and government of West Bengal,” he added.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “Jyoti Babu was not only one of the longest serving Chief Ministers in the country but also an extremely popular mass leader. He was among the leading lights of the left movement in the country. In his death we have lost one of our tallest national leader and an ideological sage who always worked for the downtrodden.”
In his condolence message, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said that Basu made significant contributions to public life, and especially to the development of West Bengal.
“I have learnt with great shock and deep anguish the unfortunate passing away of veteran leader and former Chief Minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu. His demise is deeply mourned by the vast numbers of his friends and admirers in the country,” Ansari said.
“His demise leaves a void, which will be very difficult to fill. My wife joins me in conveying our heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family and wide circles of friends and admirers and pray to give them strength to withstand this loss,” he added.
Jyoti Basu breathed his last at the AMRI Hospital of multiple-organ failure at 11.47 a.m. on Sunday. He was 95.
He was admitted to the hospital on January 1 with acute respiratory failure bordering on pneumonia. He was also undergoing treatment at the hospital for age-related ailments.
On Friday, doctors at the hospital said in a medical bulletin that his condition was very critical and hope for his survival was receding.
Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 24 years from 1977 to 2000.

Source: ANI
For more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyoti_Basu

Sri Lanka: Racism And “Exceptionalism”

2010-01-17T14:39:00.006+01:00

By Charles Ponnudurai Sarvan

"Lay then the axe to the root"
(Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791)

The following is apropos an interview with Mr A. Sivanandan, published in New Left Review (London, Nov-Dec 2009 issue, pages 79-98) under the caption ‘An Island Tragedy: Buddhist ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka’. Steps towards ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka, Mr Sivanandan claims, were taken immediately after independence by the government of D. S. Senanayake: one of his first measures as prime minister was to disenfranchise the ‘plantation Tamils’ (p. 83).

Mr Sivanandan was born in 1923, studied in Colombo, entered the University of Ceylon (then situated in Colombo), married a Sinhalese, and spoke the language fluently. As a consequence of the anti-Tamil riots of 1958, the family left for England (and walked into the anti-non-white-skin Notting Hill riots of late August and early September). Mr Sivanandan went on to become Director of the Institute of Race Relations (London), and Editor of the highly-regarded journal, Race & Class. Sri Lankan readers may know him best as the author of the novel, When Memory Dies (London, 1997).
Sivanandan states that until the anti-Tamil riots of 1958, he had “no sense at all of being a Tamil” (82). When I was aged about fourteen, and a boarding-school pupil at St Thomas’ College, Gurutalawa, involved in a dispute, a fellow pupil taunted me with Para Dhemmala (foreign Tamil).

I was puzzled because ethnic classification then had no significance to me personally, as an individual. (See, Sarvan, ‘An extract from a personal memoir’, The Sunday Island, Colombo, 5 July 2009.) Being Tamil didn’t matter to me. It was a fact but without importance, like living in this town rather that, or preferring to swim rather than play cricket for the school. So it was with German-Jews in the first decades of the last century. They saw themselves as Germans who also happened to be Jews - that is, until the Nazis came to power, and a Jewish consciousness and identity were brutally forced upon them. The problem lies not in difference per se but in what we make of that difference. Difference and the resulting variety are welcome in nature, and when one travels as a tourist but not, it seems, in ethnic terms in one’s own country, particularly within certain lands where, obsessed with racial and / or religious “purity”, “impure” actions are committed: Nazi Germany, the Balkans and Sri Lanka come to mind.

In Sri Lanka, children and young people politely address those much older as “Uncle” or “Aunt”, even if the person is not related. Sivanandan recalls that in 1958, seeing someone he didn’t know in the house of his (Sinhalese) mother-in-law, he asked his eldest daughter, aged about five, who that uncle was. She replied in Sinhala: “That’s not an uncle, that’s a Tamil” (p. 87). Horrified that his own daughter had been poisoned with racism, and at so early an age, he decided to leave the Island. Some years ago, while teaching in the Middle East, I was friends with a Sinhalese family. Their daughter – let’s call her Nalini – was about twelve. One day, as I walked into their home, little Nalini met me at the door with a worried, earnest, expression on her face: “Uncle, is it true that you are Tamil?” Her eyes asked I should deny and reassure, say that someone was teasing her. It was as if she’d suddenly been told that I was, in fact, a paedophile.

This brings me to what I term the “exceptionalism” of racism and racists. What was the reaction of Sivanandan’s daughter when she understood that her own father was Tamil? What was the child told by the others? I don’t know, but it could have been something on the lines of “But your father is different. He’s not like (all) the other Tamils”. True, he’s Tamil but not one of those Tamils in general whom we distrust and dislike; want to expel or subordinate. “He’s a Tamil but not a Tamil Tamil: you know what we mean?” He or she is turned into an exception, serving only to prove the rule, to confirm the generality. Those individuals whose life and conduct confound the racist (or religious) myth and image are made exceptions so that stereotypes, unquestioned and unchallenged, continue to have their justification and existence. In this way, racist attitudes are preserved and perpetuated. (See the blanket suspicion of, if not hostility to, all Moslems where, in a mode known as ‘Block thinking’, a varied reality is fused into one indissoluble unit.) So it is that, even those who are suspicious of (if not hostile towards) Tamils in general may have a Tamil friend or friends; socialise, and be of mutual company and help. The contradiction, the inconsistency, is “rationalised” away on the basis of their friend (or friends) being an exception.

It’s an almost no-win situation: if you “behave”, you are seen as an individual, made an exception; if you don’t, then not just you, but the entire group is blamed. In the very early 1960s, a young man in London, I was befriended by an elderly English couple. Once when I asked them whether they visited the West End, they reacted with alarm: “Oh no, dear Charles. They’re far too many foreigners there.” Having got to know me as a person, they’d forgotten not only that I too was a newly-arrived foreigner but that I was non-white. To them, I had become an individual tree, and no longer part of the vague wood: threateningly out there, all around them, sensed rather than actually encountered and experienced.

Did Sivanandan’s daughter and Nalini, in later life, question adult attitudes or did they, utilising “exceptionalism”, continue in their culturally inherited prejudice? It is not easy to call into question the world of those one loves and respects, if not admires: to think independently, differently from them, becomes rejection and, worse, betrayal. It is difficult, very difficult, to extirpate group prejudice because its roots are spread wide and deep in the collective soil. (Varying the metaphor, about 90% of an iceberg lies below, and only 10% is visible above the surface.) But it’s by no means impossible, as post-war Germany has shown, emerging from a period of “now done darkness” with relief, wanting to understand the past, willing to make amends in the present.

While an undergraduate at the Peradeniya Campus, one of my closest friends was (let’s call him) Wijesooriya. I spent extended holidays with him at his parental home in what was then a little village off a little town. His mother was a personification of gentleness and kindness, wise and caring, yet ready to smile or laugh. It would not be an exaggeration to say she treated me as if I were one of her own family. Yet “Wije” told me that, while he was a growing child, she had related stories which portrayed Tamils not only as “the Other”, but which created the image in his mind and imagination of the Tamil as trouble and menace, to be distrusted, held at a distance and controlled. I have not the slightest doubt this was not her intention: she simply was not aware of the image of the Other that folk tales and folk history create; their effect on the mind and imagination of a child and, finally, on the hapless Tamil. Essentially kind, decent and good she was simply “innocent” (in the sense of being unaware) of the possible long-term effects of the stories she narrated, tales she told and retold simply to entertain her son. Folk history and stories help to explain the intensity of hatred, and the ferocity of attack, during successive anti-Tamil riots and pogroms. They form an unbroken line of suspicion, resentment and hatred from ancient times into the present.

“Wije” joined Royal College and found himself in a boarding-house in Colombo where all the others happened to be Tamil. He told me of his initial unease at having to live with those of whom he had, entirely unconsciously, built up a very negative image. But to his surprise and puzzlement, he found them no different; was welcomed and treated as a friend. “Wije”, having the mind of a sociologist, did not attempt to explain away the contradiction between received image and impression on the one hand and actual encounter on the other by making exceptions of the other (Tamil) boarders. Instead, he thought about and questioned the values and attitudes of adult society, including those of his parents.

One can perhaps set up three categories, the first consisting of those who are racist in thought and nature. (Often, such individuals and groups, avoiding the opprobrium attached to “racism”, claim they are “nationalists.”) Then there are those from religion and politics who see advantage in stoking, and keeping alive, a negative image of other ethnic groups, religious difference being a component of ethnicity. The third group is made up of those who are not aware of the nature and degree of their prejudice. Here the work of Mahzarin Banaji and other researchers is apposite.

Our brain, like a computer, quickly processes data so that we can react, and get on with the business of living. We cannot, in daily life, pause each time and reflect but must “jump to conclusions”. The question, “What role does our implicit association play in our beliefs and behaviour?” led researchers to the Implicit Association Test - a concealed test where the respondents did not realize what was really being tested. It was found that our attitude to aspects such as “race”, colour and gender operate on two levels. The first is what we (like to) think or believe is our attitude; the second is our unconscious but real attitude, that is, the immediate, automatic, association we make before we have had time to think. We don’t choose to make unfavourable associations with one group, but it is very difficult to avoid doing so if that group (or contrasting object or category) is frequently, if not constantly, paired negatively with another. Indeed, it was found that even those discriminated against could come to share in this negative association. For example, it was found that people of colour who took the Race Implicit Association Test (Race IAT) in the USA had stronger associations with whites than with those of their own skin-colour. An Implicit Association test conducted on a sample of Sinhalese on attitudes to Tamils (as on those with a white or fair skin-colour) will be revelatory, illumining and sobering. Of course, the association of all Tamils with the Tigers is damaging: see postscript below. An early step in combating “racism” is to bring about a realization, an awareness or consciousness, of the extent and depth of group assumptions and prejudice. (I thank Liebetraut Sarvan, particularly for her comments on this section.) Self-examination, both at the individual and collective levels, will lead to a cleansing of the mind of ancient, inherited, prejudice. Lay then the axe to the roots of the poison tree.

Postscript:
On the LTTE, Sivanandan says the following:
Their degeneration “began relatively early” (p. 92). “Instead of winning over people who disagreed with them, they wiped them out [...] The Tigers had begun to alienate the Tamil population, and gradually ceased having the support of the whole community. [T]he political dimension of their struggle had been subordinated to an ad hoc militarism [...” Unlike resistance movements elsewhere, the Tigers were politically underdeveloped. Weaponry was in command, not politics. “This was a critical weakness, and it created the conditions for the final defeat in 2009” (p. 93).
charlessarvan@yahoo.com
Courtesy: The Sunday Leader

Interview with Asanga Welikala on J.S. Tissainayagam's bail

2010-01-11T13:33:00.002+01:00

from Centre for Policy Alternatives

Tamil Journalist Tissainayagam released on bail !

2010-01-11T13:08:00.002+01:00

Tamil Journalist Tissainayagam released on bail !

Tamil journalist Jeyaprakash Tissainayagam can be released on bail tomorrow. He was sentenced to 20 years hard labour in jail for supportive writings for LTTE and critical for the present government. His appeal case of his conviction is pending and he can be released on bail tomorrow. Mr. Tissainayagam has to surrender his passport and pay money for his bail, said his attorney-at-law S.A. Sumanthiran.

Stop the lies now!

2010-01-08T20:22:00.000+01:00

Sri Lanka's human rights dilemma

2009-12-20T00:09:00.001+01:00

Politics and Language in Sri Lanka

2009-12-02T09:12:00.002+01:00

Politics and Language in Sri Lanka

George Orwell, in his famous essay, ‘Politics and the English Language’ (1946) noted, inter alia, the following:
“In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.” Poor villages are bombarded from the air and the inhabitants driven out: this is called “pacification.” Peasants are “robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers.” Because, sitting comfortably, one cannot say, “I believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good results by doing so”, one says something like, “While freely conceding that the regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement.” In our age there is no such thing as “keeping out of politics”. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. Language, by concealing and misleading, can “corrupt” thought.
The Indian Defence Review report (see, Montage, Colombo, October 2009, pages 27-31) identifies factors that led to victory against the Tamil Tigers. The language used in that and other erudite reports and analyses reminds me of Orwell’s essay. For example, one factor cited in the report as contributing to military success were the steps taken by the government to “regulate” (sic) the media so as to ensure “a unidirectional flow of conflict information” (sic). This translates into plain English as media censorship and state propaganda, that is, into both suppression and falsification. The admired “Go to hell” attitude adopted by the government of Sri Lanka vis-a-vis foreign governments and humanitarian organisations means that humanitarian considerations and compassion were rejected. Innocent, trapped and petrified children, women and men were made to pay an appalling price in the unnecessary haste to ‘finish the job’: “wade through slaughter” to victory and power, and “shut the gates of mercy on mankind” (Thomas Gray).
Secondly, from incorrect questions one cannot arrive at correct answers but I would draw attention to a question not asked by the Review or by anyone else. Allow me to quote from ‘A “great” military victory?’ published by you recently (Sunday Leader, 25 October 2009).
It is thought that, at their height, the Tigers perhaps numbered 30,000. Towards the end, down to a few thousand (finally, a few hundred), they faced an army of (again, perhaps) 250,000. The Tigers did not have jets and helicopters. Their mono, propeller, planes were slow and clumsy, and of no real military value. Rejected by foreign governments, the Tigers were as isolated internationally as they were totally surrounded in geographic and military terms. In contrast, the government of Sri Lanka received help and advice from several countries, even from those states in competition with, and suspicious of, each other. The Taliban fight in mountainous, inaccessible, terrain, while the Tigers occupied flat land, albeit forested. Sri Lanka being an island (and the government of the nearest country, India, implacably hostile), the LTTE did not have borders over which they could easily slip, regroup, recover and return to continue the struggle. The wonder is not that the government eventually won but that it took so long for final victory to be achieved.
The last should surely be investigated: given the above facts, why did victory take so long? The answer will point to shameful elements, such as money made through war, including lucrative commissions on the purchase of weaponry (at times, of poor quality and / or of little use); political corruption, nepotism and military incompetence; covert political compromise and secret “horse trading”; foreign governments playing roles which changed in Machiavellian fashion (or, if one prefers an Eastern text, in the spirit of Kautilya’s treatise on government, Arthashastra) according to their perceived interests, and so on. Most damningly, those in political power, as well as those in military command, were indifferent to the injury and death suffered by rank-and-file soldiers, drawn largely from the rural poor and the working class. (See, Elmo Jayawardena’s poignant, Sam’s Story.) Wounded, traumatized and disabled soldiers were not adequately cared for; close relations (wife and children; parents) of those killed not financially sustained. These last help to explain why recruitment was then difficult; why, for long, morale was low, and the rate of desertion embarrassingly high; why, at times, the Tigers were able to equip themselves with weapons abandoned by fleeing troops. Of course, as already indicated, another factor that contributed to the prolongation of the war was that the Tigers, granted their ethical failures and political failings (both several and of a grievous nature) did fight with exceptional courage and tenacity. Mr Christopher Rezel (Sri Lankan writer and journalist, now in Australia) in a recent message to me, points this out:
“Be that as it may, the LTTE leader must have had (a) brave and (b) brilliant men and women. Otherwise, those daring and successful military victories could never have been achieved – and there were many such battle-victories against unbelievable odds and circumstances. As for (b) above, consider the building of an air force and submarines, however rudimentary; the construction of airstrips and ports. Given time, they may have even got guided missiles up in the air!”
But to take up, discuss or argue this aspect here would distract from the present focus.
It is well to bask in the glow of victory (and exploit it for maximum political mileage), but if corruption is to be reduced, an honest examination of the conduct of the war over the last thirty years or more should be undertaken. Uncomfortable questions must not be swept under the carpet. In the long-term interests of the Island and its well-being, not only the reasons for victory, but why a totally unequal conflict prolonged itself for so long should also be confronted and investigated. The people are entitled to, and deserve, the truth, the total truth.
The laurel crown of victory must not be allowed to serve also as the proverbial fig-leaf that hides embarrassment and shame.

Charles Sarvan

by courtesy of: The Sunday Leader

OPEN LETTERTo Heads of Government attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, November 23-26, 2009, Port of Spain , Trinidad & Tobago

2009-11-20T09:39:00.000+01:00

Dear Heads of Government

On the occasion of the forthcoming meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government, Amnesty International would like to draw your attention to recent developments in Sri Lanka , and urge you to raise concerns regarding the human rights situation in that country with your Sri Lankan counterparts. In particular, we wish to alert you to continuing serious problems affecting the safety and dignity of Sri Lankans displaced by armed conflict. We also ask you to support our calls for greater accountability for abuses of human rights and humanitarian law suffered by Sri Lankan civilians.

Releases from Sri Lanka ’s camps for internally displaced persons have accelerated, but six months after the end of the war, Sri Lanka continues to confine people who fled fighting in closed displacement camps in uncomfortable and sometimes hazardous conditions. Camp shelters have deteriorated as Sri Lanka has entered the rainy season, and the UN reports that funds for shelter repair are running out. Amnesty International has a global campaign, “Unlock the Camps”, (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/unlock-camps-sri-lanka-20090807), calling on the Sri Lankan government to end its policy of forcibly confining people to camps, which amounts to arbitrary detention.

RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

Some 150,000 people displaced by war and living in government camps in Northern Sri Lanka are denied their basic human rights including liberty and freedom of movement. The camps remain military in nature. The military controls all decision-making related to management of the camps and the fate of displaced people in those camps; the military severely restricts the residents from leaving the premises even to seek medical care, and denies the displaced population basic legal safeguards.

While the government has widely publicised recent releases from the camps, Amnesty International has received reports that displaced people have been subjected to rescreening by local authorities to determine whether they had links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). There are also reports that some people who have been released, have been denied necessary documents to ensure that they are safe from re-arrest.

The government has not alerted displaced people about impending releases or conditions in their places of origin that would enable them to make plans about their futures. Nor has the government given the displaced people clear info rmation about their rights and obligations, their legal status or procedures for tracing family members. Displaced people have been given no voice in decisions regarding their release, return or resettlement. There is inadequate monitoring of the conditions of release, and of alleged return or resettlement.

The Sri Lankan government has prevented humanitarian organizations from talking to displaced persons, and obstructed their ability to conduct crucial human rights protections activities, such as providing legal aid or assisting with family reunification.

CONCERNS ABOUT SCREENING AND PROTECTION OF THE DISPLACED

The Sri Lankan government has legitimate security concerns, and there is a need to bring to justice members of both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces who engaged in abuse of civilians. Sri Lanka ’s displaced civilians suffered enormous physical danger and material deprivation during the war. As discussed below, both sides were accused of humanitarian law violations against these civilians, who were forced to remain at risk in the conflict zone by the LTTE, which used them as human shields against the approaching army. Adults and children were subjected to forced conscription.

Amnesty International stresses the need to ensure that in all cases, accountability is pursued through proper legal processes. Since the war ended in May 2009, many thousands of people detained in camps have been subjected to 'screening' by the security forces in an attempt to root out LTTE members. An estimated 12,000 people (including children) suspected of links to the LTTE have been arrested, separated from the general displaced population and detained by the authorities in irregular detention facilities, such as vacated school buildings. Amnesty International has received repeated, credible reports from humanitarian workers about the lack of transparency and accountability in the screening process, which is conducted outside of any legal framework and the increased dangers to detainees when they are held incommunicado. While screening is appropriate to ensure that LTTE combatants are not housed with the general camp population, proper procedures should be followed, and the screening process must not be used as an excuse for collective punishment.

The government denies independent monitors access to sites in the north housing adult LTTE suspects. Detainees have not been charged with any offense, and have been denied legal counsel and due process. Many are held incommunicado. UNICEF has access to former child soldiers detained in specialized “rehabilitation” camps for children, but there remains a need to verify that no children remain in facilities with adult detainees.

WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Sri Lanka has recently emerged from more than twenty-five years of armed conflict between government forces and the LTTE. In the course of fighting, both sides violated humanitarian law. The LTTE forcibly conscripted adults and children, and forced civilians to travel with its retreating forces and to serve as a buffer against the approaching Sri Lankan army. Thousands of these civilians died when government forces fired artillery into areas densely populated with civilians who were forced to remain at risk in the conflict zone. The LTTE reportedly fired at and killed civilians who attempted to escape.

Impunity for violations of human rights and humanitarian law has been the rule rather than the exception in Sri Lanka . On 26 October, the Sri Lankan government announced the appointment of a committee of experts to investigate alleged humanitarian law violations committed during the war. The Sri Lankan government has a poor record of providing genuine accountability through similar mechanisms: it has often appointed ad hoc Commissions of Inquiry in the past when it received adverse publicity for serious violations of human rights, but none of these has advanced justice. The President’s most recent proposal appears to be yet another attempt to deflect attention from repeated calls for an independent international investigation – calls supported by Amnesty International and many other international and domestic human rights organizations, and strengthened by the recently released report of the US Department of State’s Office of War Crimes.

ATTACKS ON CRITICS AND CONTINUED RELIANCE ON SPECIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION

The Sri Lankan government continues to justify its abusive policies and silencing of dissent, under the pretext of countering the threat of terrorism. Special security legislation, such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the Public Security Ordinance and its accompanying emergency regulations (intended for states of national emergency, but imposed almost continuously for decades), remains in place and grants extraordinary powers to the authorities to arbitrarily arrest and detain individuals almost indefinitely.

In September 2009, journalist J.S. Tissainayagam was sentenced to twenty years rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for writing articles that criticized the Sri Lankan government’s treatment of Tamil civilians during military operations in the East.

In addition to these restrictive laws and regulations, there is a pattern of regular threats and unchecked attacks against journalists (15 have been killed because of their reporting since 2004 and at least 11 have fled the country between June 2008 and June 2009), lawyers, witnesses against state forces, and human rights defenders by unidentified attackers presumed to have links to the state. The cumulative effect has eroded public faith in the justice system, and has also had a chilling effect on freedom of expression and association.

TIME TO ACT NOW

Your government could make a valuable contribution to improving the situation for Sri Lanka ’s war displaced and other Sri Lankans by raising these critical issues with your Sri Lankan counterparts during the course of the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting and in subsequent communications.

Amnesty International welcomes your upcoming meeting as an important opportunity to urge the government of Sri Lanka to address, in particular, these urgent concerns:

· Restore the rights of Sri Lanka ’s displaced people to liberty and freedom of movement, ensuring that those held in Sri Lankan displacement camps are there voluntarily;

· Ensure independent access to, and monitoring of camps housing internally displaced people to protect them against human rights abuse, and ensure that their humanitarian needs are being met;

· Institute a consultative process with displaced people that allows them to make info rmed and voluntary decisions about return and resettlement;

· End arbitrary detention; ensuring that all “screening” and detention practices associated with the displaced population are transparent, and are carried out in accordance with legal safeguards and international human rights standards. Individuals affiliated with the LTTE arrested and accused of crimes, should be charged with legitimate offences, tried and prosecuted in accordance with the law and without recourse to the death penalty;

· Ensure accountability for abuses to guarantee effective investigations, due process and swift prosecution of all perpetrators, including those enjoying political influence and high social status;

· End reliance on legislation intended for emergencies that curtail enjoyment of basic rights and freedoms and subvert due process.

· To accomplish the needed reforms and improvements, an independent field monitoring presence is required with a strong mandate to conduct investigations and assist the national institutions to deliver justice in relation to grave violations of human rights. To ensure independence, such a body must be empowered by an international mandate, not a presidential mandate.

Former MP for Madurai P. Mohan passes away

2009-10-31T00:47:00.004+01:00

CHENNAI: P.Mohan, former member of Indian parliament from Madurai constituency and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) passed away on Friday at 7.00 p.m. in Chennai Apollo Hospital. Due to intestinal bleeding he was admitted to hospital a week ago. He was 60 years old and lost the last election in April 2009.

It is a Police officer who had openly killed an insane individual by attacking with clubs and drowning him

2009-10-30T22:42:00.004+01:00

It is a Police officer who had openly killed an insane individual by attacking with clubs and drowning him!!!

(Lanka-e-News, Oct.30, 2009, 7.15PM) Police spokesman SSP Nimal Mediwake told Lanka e news today (30) that action is being taken to arrest the Police officer who was involved in the killing and drowning of an insane individual at Bambalapitiya beach on the 27th. The deceased had drowned following an attack with poles by two individuals. A police officer attached to the Bambalapitiya station has also been involved in the murder. The body of the deceased was found yesterday evening

The deceased is a 26year old youth, B. Sivakumar from Ratmalana. As he was insane he had been treated at the Angoda mental hospital on two occasions, police investigations reveal.

When attempts were made to seize this individual who was pelting stones at the trains and vehicles passing by, he had jumped into the sea. Two individuals armed with poles had moved into the sea and attacked him. The Rupavahini and TNL which telecast the incident yesterday, stated the deceased had begged and worshipped the attackers pleaded with them not to attack him.

These attackers had launched the assault in front of large crowd of viewers. It is not certain whether the deceased drowned due to the pole attack, or before is not certain.

Police spokesperson stated, that as one of the suspects is a Bambalapitiya Police officer, the investigations have been transferred from Bambalapitiya to the Colombo Crime division under CCD Director, Ravindra Kahawita.

courtesy: video:http://www.dailymirror.lk
Text:http://www.lankaenews.com

Jayathilake Bandara sings!!!

2009-10-13T23:33:00.001+02:00

Lyric by Manjula Wediwardane

What are the future perspectives for the Tamils?

2009-10-12T09:17:00.007+02:00

The following talk was delivered by Nadarajah-Suseenthiran Straube at the conference, ‘Sri Lanka After The Victory: What Is The State Of Freedom, Democracy, Peace And Minority Rights?’ organised by the Protestant Academy, Bad Boll, in cooperation with the Association for Conflict Prevention, Democracy and Minority Rights (Gesellschaft für Konfliktprävention, Demokratie und Minderheitenrechte), the International Network of Sri Lankan Diaspora, and the Sri Lanka Association, Stuttgart, held from October 2-4, in Bad Boll, Germany.

The Tamils of Sri Lanka, robbed of all hope for the future, find themselves lost and staring into something much worse and threatening than emptiness. A chain of events has shown them that, throughout post-independence history, they have been disappointed, failed, betrayed. Unfortunately, the reaction to the present state of affairs has been emotional (rather than rational), and bereft of a long-term strategy. Through the establishment of a unitary state in 1948, the subsequent formulation of a succession of discriminatory constitutions (1972, 1978), with the help of majoritarianism, mob violence, and the force of the police and army, Sinhalese-Buddhist hegemony has been established in the island.

Tamil reaction to subordination and exclusion took several forms. The first was to cooperate with the government and, in that way, try to influence its policy and actions, and bring about some degree of development in the north and east. When that brought no results, Tamils tried non-violent resistance within the parliamentary system. That too having failed, Tamil youth, in despair and desperation, chose the path of armed resistance. The resulting fear, suffering and sense of hopelessness made thousands of Tamils to flee the land of their birth. Now, with the final defeat of the armed struggle, around 250, 000 civilians have been placed in concentration camps.

These people in the camps are simple folk who, in economic and educational terms, lived in undeveloped districts, namely, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya, making a minimum living through hard work. These people did not demand a separate state. These people are not responsible for starting the armed struggle. The Tigers came into their region and set up their stronghold, first in Kilinochchi, then in Mallavi, and finally in Puthukudiyiruppu (all within the Wanni region).

Lives disrupted

The lives of the people were disrupted, and they were subjected to the fiat of the LTTE. They were exploited and forced to pay “tax” in various forms. A pass system was introduced in 1990 to control their exit. The restrictions imposed by the government on trade resulted in a dire lack of food and proper medical attention, felt by these people on a daily basis. They remained in the region not out of choice, not out of political loyalty, but because they were, in effect, imprisoned. On the one hand, they experienced and endured aerial bombardment; on the other hand, they helplessly saw their sons and daughters recruited into the ranks of the LTTE, and being used as cannon fodder. It is a cruel irony that it is these people - innocent, blameless and long-suffering - who are now being held prisoner by a state that (cynical and grotesque as it may be) claims to have come as liberators. The victims are being further victimised.

They whose misery has now deepened, had hoped and believed that, with the end of the war, their suffering would end; that they would have free movement again: after all, there must be LTTE supporters in Jaffna, and yet there is freedom of movement there. Free movement is a more immediate and greater priority for them than so-called “development”. Their hopes have been bitterly betrayed, and those Tamils who clung on to some degree of belief in the government’s good faith are now disillusioned and have to face stark realities. Let me quote from the UTHR(J) report:

End of war

“The end of war, rather than marking a return to normality or better yet an opportunity to improve inter-ethnic relations and justice in Sri Lanka appears to have been only another political milestone for chauvinist and authoritarian elements in power. They treated the war as an excuse to return to an ideological agenda that sought the debilitation of minorities; presenting them as permanent enemies, purposefully uprooting them from lands that had been their home for centuries and tolerating their existence only under the jackboot of the State.” UTHR(J): University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) SRI LANKA, Special Report No:33.

To express it bluntly (albeit also sadly), the present government is lying, busily finding excuses and fabricating falsehood. For example, the state lies when it says that it continues to detain these people because of the presence of landmines. There are no landmines, for this area was never no-man’s-land but was inhabited and cultivated by the people now imprisoned. As the army advanced, the Tigers herded them to other areas. Even if there had been landmines, they would have been cleared by the army in order to facilitate its own progress. Again, the government claims there are about ten thousand Tigers among those detained. However, it is well known that the Tigers have melted away, several having bought their freedom. In a repetitive feature of history, those left behind are the innocent and the poor.

As already stated, what is paramount to these unfortunates is not “development” but freedom of movement. The government, on one pretext or another, is unwilling to release them because they are living testimony to the war crimes committed by the state. This is the reason for the continued imprisonment of so many thousands of children, women and men in primitive conditions. The rainy season has begun, bringing with it greater discomfort, disease and, inevitably, death – particularly to children. It is not surprising that journalists and foreign agencies are excluded from visiting these sites of extreme misery, sorrow and humiliation.

Plight of Tamils

I now move to the plight of Tamils elsewhere on the island. Though the so-called war on terror is over, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is still in force, and used to harass and humiliate Tamils; to intimidate not only Tamils but also the rest of the population. The journalist Tissainayagam was charged under the PTA, so that the draconian sentence of 20 years hard labour could be handed down. Though the LTTE has been defeated, their entire leadership wiped out, the fear of the Tigers is deliberately kept alive in Sinhalese minds so that they condone the unjust and cruel acts of the government. The island is artificially, needlessly, kept in a permanent “state of emergency.”

Within the Tamil diaspora there are about 100,000 in India, most of them further scattered in 117 refugee-camps in Tamil Nadu state. Until recently, very little was said about the miserable conditions in these camps. Elsewhere, in Western countries, there are about 400,000 Tamils. Those of the Tiger movement have advanced the idea of a trans-national Tamil Eelam but this seems to me to be unrealistic.

Perhaps, it is an effort to keep alive the sense of oneness and commitment that existed right up to 18 May 2009. While I discount this idea, I find it also ironic. It is based on the Vaddukoddai resolution (1976), but several of those responsible for formulating this resolution, including the leader, A. Amirthalingam, were murdered by the LTTE! The mandate (1977) of the people was given to the TULF, and not to the LTTE. Further, I would ask for whom are we going to attain a political solution? Is it for minorities in Sri Lanka or for Tamil minorities in the Western countries?

Diaspora

Previously, the diaspora was able to call out thousands in public demonstration and protest, but such a galvanised togetherness is now hard to create, sustain and use. That the diaspora has not succeeded in gaining the freedom of those trapped and imprisoned in the Wanni shows its debilitated, disoriented and scattered condition.

While the war was raging, some members of the diaspora loudly proclaimed and protested the genocide that was taking place, but they did not demand with equal vehemence that the imprisoned population be set free. Perhaps, their thinking was that the presence of civilians would inhibit the Sinhalese state from waging “total war.” (If so, they miscalculated the nature of the government which, racist and cruel, was willing, even eager, to murder and maim thousands and thousands of innocent, helpless, Tamils in order to get at Tigers.) Whatever the reasoning and motivation, by keeping silent then, the diaspora has lost heavily in ethical, humane, terms.

Initially, the government took the promising step of setting up an all-party, representative conference, charged with the task of suggesting a blueprint for the equitable and harmonious development of the island.

However, there has been no progress, and the realisation grows that it is yet another plan of the government to deceive the people, particularly the minorities, and indefinitely delay addressing fundamental issues. The present government has lost the opportunity to prove its willingness to share power, at least with the full implementation of the 13th Amendment. Observing the present situation, I must frankly confess that I cannot see any glimpse of better prospects for minorities in Sri Lanka.

Unless the present constitution is changed, there will be no real peace, but the government neither has the will nor, indeed, the wish to make changes. Even if it did, the government cannot because its power-base is the chauvinist element among the Sinhalese. The only hope is that like-minded minorities and Sinhalese will work together to change the mind-set of the Sinhalese; allay irrational fears, remove suspicion and hatred, show that the Tamils ever since independence have been unjustly treated, and that, for the sake of the entire island and all its people, a different course must be set. We must learn from the past, objectively examine the present, and so fashion a more just and harmonious future.

Human Rights Activist Balagopal passes away

2009-10-12T09:06:00.002+02:00

_______________________________

Keeping memories alive 20th anniversary of Rajani’s assassination

2009-09-21T08:42:00.005+02:00

by Dayapala Thiranagama

Dr. Rajani Thiranagama
M.B.B.S(Colombo),Ph.D(Liverpool)
Head Dept of Anotomy, University of Jaffna
(born:23.02.1954-assassinated:21.09.1989)

One night in 1983, soon after midnight Rajani woke me up and whispered to me that she had been asked to treat an injured boy from the Iyakkam (movement). For her, this was an act of compassion by a doctor towards her patient. For me it was a political act. I was frozen. I turned back and slept. I was caught up in the agony of belonging to the oppressor and the woman I dearly and unconditionally loved trying to ‘liberate’ her own community by undertaking her bit in the struggle. This whisper and the brief political argument that followed opened cracks in our relationship which grew wider and wider.
Rajani had an enormous influence on those around her. She was a mother of two young children, Narmada aged 11 years and Sharika aged 9 years respectively, at the time of her death. She was 35 years old. Rajani had begun to demonstrate an extraordinary courage and vision in her political activism defending human rights and took an uncompromising position whenever these rights were violated. The armed confrontation between the Tamil Tigers and the IPKF was at its peak at the time and no dissent was tolerated. She had had links with the LTTE and had treated injured Tamil militants before at the inception of Tamil tiger militancy. Then they were only a small band of armed men. Times had changed. Her assassins had been waiting for her on her way home after work at the Medical Faculty and she was gunned down near her home in Kokuvil, Jaffna on 21st September 1989 about 4.00pm.They came behind and called her by name. Then she was still sitting on the bike, turned back and looked at them. Eyewitnesses say that she tried to cover her forehead with her bare hands seeing the gunmen pointing the pistol at her head. They demonstrated extraordinary cruelty against a woman who had only her bare hands to cover her head against the bullets. Even after she fell on the ground they shot the back of her head with two bullets to make sure that she would not be alive to criticise them again. They showed no mercy towards the woman who had showed them such compassion and had treated them when they were injured. Her young daughters hearing the gun shots wondered who the victim would be this time.

The purpose of this account is to make some personal reflections and analysis on the life shattering individual experiences suffered by us as a young family in the unprecedented political upheavals for decades simply because we did not wish to be just observers. It also attempts to trace the political journey of two individuals with an intimate relationship in relation to the wider political process that engulfed the country.

First meeting

I met Rajani in September 1976 when the student unrest was rapidly spreading within Sri Lankan universities and there was a renewed militant student activity among the university students. An innocent student, Weerasuriya at Peradeniya had been gunned down by the police and the student militancy grew stronger in the face of such atrocities against the student movement... These were extraordinary times. The political unrest in the country had already begun to change our lives and our lives in turn were set to change the political course of the country, even in a small way, to a point of no return. I had just come out of prison for the second time after spending long years in prison in 1976. Rajani, a young Tamil woman with Christian religious background and radical political thinking had just started to influence the medics at the Colombo Medical Faculty with her thirst for justice and democracy against a repressive state apparatus that had a hallmark of historical discrimination and violence against Tamils. I had just become a university academic by this time. When we met and forged our relationship it was clear that our lives would never be the same again, for us, as well as our children who were yet to be born. We got married on 28 August 1977 in Colombo, without a ceremony, in the midst of anti- Tamil riots in Colombo. On the day we got married we stayed in Rathmalana with a Sinhalese friend of mine and her father loaded his shot gun and kept awake all night in order to protect us as a number of Tamil families had been attacked on the previous night in the neighbourhood. Our marriage brought together two ethnically, socially, politically and culturally diverse individuals into a relationship based on human understanding and deep love which appeared unshakable at the time. Once she wrote to me saying that her love for me was as deep as the ocean. With all these differences, one of the most interesting issues was how far our loving relationship with all its complexities would serve to protect our marriage during a politically divisive time when the two communities were at war and in which the Tamil minority was at the receiving end. Both Sinhalese and Tamil popular cultures had been at war with each other and the Sinhalese considered their culture was superior.

Ethnic differences

Our ethnic differences would have appeared unbridgeable at the very beginning, as I was a product of the 1956 Sinhalese Buddhist social mobility that had been created by my parents’ generation of people who were part of the Panchamaha Balavegaya. (Sanga, weda, guru govi, and kamkaru) and in turn the 1956 and its perpetuation. Its ideology had shaped our thinking and political outlook as young people who had very little to do with the Tamil community and understanding of their issues. The political issues Rajani tried to grapple with as a young medic had in fact become intractable due to the ideological and political outlook perpetuated by the 1956 social mobility amongst the Sinhalese youth, which discriminated against the minorities in Sri Lanka. This was a big advantage for the JVP to build their pro- Sinhalese political project in the late 60’s, throughout the 70’s and 80’s. Rajani was able to understand this political trend when she studied and worked in the Sinhalese areas and in Colombo. The JVP’s pro Sinhalese project showed that the Tamil democratic struggle had to be fought by the Tamil themselves as it did not accept the Tamils had specific democratic and political grievances to be resolved. It was this kind of political rejection in the Sinhalese South that drew people like Rajani to support militant organizations in the Tamil community.

Social class

Socially, we belonged to two different social classes. Rajani had a middle class upbringing in Jaffna. I was brought up in a poor peasant family in the South and the only life chance opened to me was education. As a young boy I had walk to my school miles and miles with my bare feet. My childhood poverty and deprivation and how I had to overcome these as a young boy was very distressing to Rajani to the extent that I never wanted to explain the full extent of my past to her beyond a certain point. It was a lottery that I managed to succeed in my education. Rajani had no issue whatsoever about my social class vis-à-vis her middleclass background. She defended me strongly within her own middle class family members and outside whenever it came to their attention that I had not been living up to their middle class norms.
We were also politically different and in reality these political differences played a divisive role in our marriage. I had near religious belief in the Marxist-Leninist/Maoist political agenda and Rajani wanted to apply the revolutionary success stories in other countries to Sri Lanka as pragmatic examples of social justice. It was also due to this pragmatism that Rajani became closer to the Tamil Tigers in her own political journey. In the same way this core ideological belief of pragmatism benefited her to turn her energy and emotions into human rights campaigning later in her political life when she left the Tamil Tigers.
When I met Rajani I had only just left prison I still had scars of torture all over my body and while in prison I had never expected to live again let alone have a relationship. Rajani showed extraordinary courage to accept me as I was with all the differences between us, with my own social and political past which was such a contradiction to her own middle class life and aspirations. She had to battle it over with her family. Rajani had accepted that I would one day leave her and go in order to fulfil my political responsibilities. It was also accepted we would not meet again once I left the family. My generation had undergone a tremendous change in their mind set and all our personal needs and aspirations had to be suppressed for political justice and the emancipation of the poor. We also had a very deep sense of family ties and gratitude and the need to provide for our parents who underwent untold sufferings to bring us up. This sentiment and obligations we had suppressed in the belief that social justice followed by the armed revolution would resolve this for ever. Rajani had been coming to terms with a life with our children without my presence and her expressed determination to look after them on her own. This idea was no longer sustainable when the demands upon us required us to sacrifice our expectations and throw away our perceived traditional roles. This is what exactly Rajani did. We thought at the time that even if we were not there our children would be looked after by others, particularly our comrades.

1983 anti-Tamil riots

The 1983 anti- Tamil riots had an unprecedented influence on every Tamil’s conscience and their dignified existence became untenable: either you had to accept your unequal status and keep quiet or you had to fight for justice and democracy. For the Tamil community it seemed there was no way out.However, Rajani was still unclear about the political line to be taken in search of justice and democracy. My views were clear in this regard... I never wanted to join any political organisation which would not allow you to get out if you disagreed with them. Without that kind of internal democracy it becomes a very dangerous affair if they take up arms. Additionally, here was another issue which we did not pay adequate political attention to as youthful political minds: even nominal parliamentary democracies could withstand armed struggle and demonstrate flexibility in recreating political space defeating the resolve of armed combatants. In Sri Lanaka still the political space had not been closed. We were in a hurry and the political space for the democratic struggle had not been exhausted. The failure of the JVP armed struggle in 1971 and 1987-89 as well as Tamil Tigers’ recent military defeat has to be viewed in this context, despite its own organisational and structural weaknesses.
Rajani’s pragmatic mind and her compassion were drawn to the Tamil Tigers’ political project. Rajani left for England in 1983 on a commonwealth scholarship and by the beginning of 1984 Rajani had joined the Tamil Tigers in London. I visited Rajani in May 1984 in London. Following a very painful but comprehensive discussion it appeared that there was no space for the continuation of our marriage except our joint responsibility for our daughters. We decided to part and I went back to Colombo. Rajani had become a seemingly unwavering member of the Tamil Tigers’ military project. Once our relationship had appeared to be unshakable but there were no guarantees in a time of war that we could maintain it with such divergent political views. The deep human love that brought us together over our differences had vanished for forever ever. Rajani became very distressed but her political loyalty was placed above the loyalty that had existed in our relationship. We had decided to go our own ways as our political and personal differences were irreconcilable. Our differences had their own dynamics in a relationship that became dysfunctional.
After a couple of months of my return to Colombo, Rajani had resigned from the Tamil Tigers. She wrote a letter to me breaking the news and assured me that our relationship was still as strong as during our happiest times. Rajani acknowledged our separation in these words in all my trials and tribulations you stood by me in strong love but I was cruel to you…Rajani was always open and frank. For me still there was no guarantee that it could ever be the same again. On my part I had moved on. During this time the political suppression had become acute and I was keeping a low profile... Rajani would now be returning home to her beloved people and Jaffna, to resume her work in the University after completing her Phd.
Rajani arrived in Jaffna in 1986. She became the Head of the Anatomy Department. Rajani’s political transformation was becoming impressive. She was evolving as a human rights activist and her feminist outlook look brought a new political dimension to her politics and a pioneered a new kind of people’s political agenda in Jaffna. She became a tireless campaigner for freedom and democracy against the rule of the gun. She pioneered the formation of the University Teachers of Human Rights (UTHR J) with three other academics which drew anger and wrath from both IPKF and militant groups particularly the Tamil Tigers. Rajani and others recorded all the human rights violations from all sides in the conflict. She believed the human life was so precious that no human life should be eliminated for political reasons. She also supported and was actively involved in Purani, a refuge for destitute women. She became a remarkable mother, a tireless activist and respected academic in an environment that posed a great danger to every human being there at the time.
From time to time Rajani visited me with the children in Colombo in order to make sure that they did not miss their father. During this time she also began to write Broken Palmyra with some others in the UTHR this made her an obvious target of the Tamil tigers. When I read the manuscript I had no doubt what the outcome would be if it was published. I advised Rajani that she would have to lie low and that they would not spare her if she went ahead with its publication. She agreed but the UTHR (J) had to make the decision. By the time she was gunned down, it had not been even published. The Tamil Tigers knew that it was going to be published.
Rajani clearly understood the danger to her life if she continued campaigning but she did not wish to scale down her activities and stop what she felt she had to do. Such was her indomitable courage and determination during such difficult times in the history of Tamil militancy.
Rajani was buried in her family cemetery in Nallur on 25 September 1989. I walked with my two young daughters hand in hand, the most difficult, most painful and saddest of walks in my life. Along with her, the happy days of our family were buried and the family was never the same again without her presence. We have not been able to visit her grave for twenty long years. Each day her daughters passed without their mother, brought home to them their irreplaceable loss. They joined other children in Sri Lanka who lost their parents due to the war. The irony was that it was me, not Rajani who had expected to die in the struggle and she had accepted that her role would be to care for the children. But the total opposite happened. At the beginning of our relationship I never thought that I would end my political career for the responsibility of looking after my children. I thought that my involvement in Sri Lankan politics would result in my death. That did not happen. Instead Rajani gave her life for the human rights of the Tamil people and I had to be alive for the children. I looked after them until they were independent. But my tribute goes to Rajani. It was Rajani’s solid foundation she laid in their formative years that helped me to complete the task. This situation was not specific to my children or family. Such was the dramatic transformation of the political situation and its impact on individual members in the Tamil community within a short period of time of militant activity.
Before she was gunned down, in early September Rajani was in Colombo on her way back from England after a short trip and waited for me in Colombo before travelling back to Jaffna. But I could not make contact with her. She left Colombo in disappointment. Before leaving Rajani wrote a few lines on the back of the cover of the book she bought for me in London and left it for me. This was her last note to me.

To
Him, who lives out of the paradox of deep tenderness and love –with the strive of Bakunin’s characterization of ‘a revolutionary has no interest of his own, no cause of his own…no habits, no belongings he does not even have a name’ If in this era of cataclysm and overwhelming terror – when no victories are won or end seen - if it is only reverence that this woman can pay to him who carries fire in his heart and burning determination in his spirit let it be only that

Rajani 1989.

After Rajani wrote this, she went to Jaffna. Then I received a message on 22nd September which I never wanted to hear. Her death brought the demise of my political career. Rajani’s death also made our relationship brief but our memories have become life long with rich life experiences.
The commencement of Rajani’s political journey with the Tamil Tigers brings to the fore questions about why people join certain militant organizations where dissent will not be tolerated and where criticism might lead to death. I had discussed this issue with Rajani over and over again. The elimination of ‘traitors’ was a common practice in Sri Lanka in both JVP and Tamil militant organizations. Both the JVP and LTTE killed their political adversaries and these killings showed no mercy and some of them demonstrated unimaginable brutality.
Any responsible political organization must explain to the people why they had to resort to such brutal eliminations of their critics. The JVP has failed to do it so far and it’s unlikely that they would do it after so many years have passed since their gruesome murders were carried out... They have not ruled out that they would not do it again. They eliminated those Sinhalese who advocated granting the rights of the Tamil people under the 13th amendment during 1987-89. Both the JVP and Tamil Tigers should take this issue seriously as it is a demonstration of their democratic credentials. If they choose to eliminate their political dissent without dealing with them in a democratic manner now, there will never be room for democratic freedom in the future even if they were to succeed in installing their dictatorships over the masses of people. Rajani’s death and her political legacy shows that ordinary human beings, when faced with acute degradation of human freedom under the rule of the gun will never be silent and their political reaction will be more powerful than the gun. I salute Rajani for being one of such heroic women.Rajani was asked not to return to Jaffna in 1977 from England by the family and friends in the midst of a very destructive war during a time many professionals were leaving Jaffna, but she felt very strongly to get back to serve her community. Rajani refused to listen to the same advice just before her death on her return to Jaffna.
Rajani’s assassination had weakened the Tamil democratic movement. Those who are responsible for her death should accept their political mistake if the Tamil democracy is to become a mature, responsible and viable political force in the coming years. This is because her assassination was symbolic of the political indecency, dictatorial and anti-human nature of Tamil militancy that went off track, leaving a huge political vacuum in the Tamil community.
Even though Rajani was assassinated the political ideas she fought for will never be vanquished. The pro- people political ideas she developed and analysed in Broken Palmyra provides a very powerful critique of Tamil militancy which in the name of Tamil liberation was becoming a ruthless military apparatus and using people cynically to build a dictatorship.
The Tamil democratic struggle needs peoples structures in every sphere of life that would guarantee their rights and freedom and these structures should be strengthened against corrupt politicians and the rule of the gun...

To commemorate Rajani’s life and her contribution to human rights a commemoration meeting will be held on 25th September 2009 at 6.00pm at BMICH in Colombo by the Rajani Thiranagama Commemoration Committee.

Courtesy: http://transcurrents.com

Opinion: Tissainayagam, Richard de Zoysa and Professor Rajiva Wijesinha

2009-09-20T09:03:00.007+02:00

(Published : Sunday Leader, 20 September 2009. Altered version.)

By Charles Sarvan

The ‘reaction’ cited below was published by you last week ("My intention was to stop the killing of youth", September 13, 2009). It followed your reproduction of the statement made by Mr. Tissainayagam in that court which handed down a sentence of twenty years hard labour on him. I quote verbatim:

REACTION – Sinhala bloggers
“In 1989, Tissainayagam translated some documents on the human rights violations of the regime for (now President) Mahinda Rajapakse, a key human rights activist of the day to be taken to Geneva. He was a hero then, but now a villain. Is this because then he was fighting for rights of the Sinhalese and now for Tamil rights?”

The question that concludes the above caught my attention. As I have written elsewhere, the whites who joined the struggle against apartheid in South Africa did not do so because they were “for” the blacks, but because they were against discrimination, and the brutality (and resulting human suffering and tragedy) which accompany the imposition and maintenance of injustice. White Americans from the North who supported Martin Luther King’s campaign were insulted (“Nigger lovers”), beaten and, in certain cases, murdered. Some of the most trenchant accounts I have read of Palestinian suffering are by individuals of Jewish origin.
One can identify three kinds of protest. The first would be if I were to suffer injustice as a member of a group; protest and work towards dismantling that injustice. A second kind of protest would be if I took an interest, for example, in the plight of the (to me) distant peoples of the Amazon rain-forest. It would be disinterested, since there is no hope of gain for me in expressing concern and indignation. (Increasingly, “disinterest” tends to be confused with “uninterested”.) The third and the most challenging is to speak truth to power when that power is wielded by one’s own group and, what is more, when injustice and force work to the advantage of one’s own group and, therefore, it can be argued, to oneself. The examples I have cited from South Africa, the USA and Israel arguably come within this third, and heightest, category.
To return to the question, “Is this because then he was fighting for rights of the Sinhalese and now for Tamil rights?”, the sickness of ethnic division (call it primitive “tribalism”, if you will) has gained such a hold in the Island that one now speaks of Sinhalese rights and Tamil rights, rather than of (fundamental, universal) human rights: human-rights recognise our common humanity, regardless of language, religion, sex or skin-colour. Writing about the late Adrian Wijemanne, I pointed out that his was a principled, essentially decent and caring, stance. Transcending narrow tribalism, he did not “fight for the Tamils” but for equality, justice and inclusion. If the Sinhalese had been oppressed, herded and corralled in prison camps, he would have been among the first to espouse their cause.
The position adopted by such individuals calls for rare courage and inner strength because they are execrated and abused as “traitors”; experience physical terror, even pay the final price of death. (The “cost” is borne also by those most close and dear to them.) At times of inhumanity, such individuals, their character and conduct, affirm our humanity, restore confidence, hold out some hope, give courage.
On the other hand, to go with the majority, to use unethically one’s intelligence and “cleverness” with language, has its rewards: public admiration and applause; media attention; appointment and promotion; entry into the higher circles of power (and the privilege and social status that that brings); invitations and deference. It is an intoxicating, addictive, cocktail that must make one feel successful, powerful - and smugly conceited. But it is a gaining of the “world” at the loss of what is best in us as human beings.
And yet, at moments of silent, honest, introspection, some of those who have “sold out” must look in the mirror of the past, see their earlier self and pause - however briefly, uncomfortably and hurriedly. As a poet wrote (albeit in another context) good is the life ending faithfully – faithful to the values, principles and ideals one believed in and cherished. Many souls, as noble as they were modest, both Sinhalese and Tamil, have refused to be intimidated, declined to compromise, disdained dangled prizes and rewards, and paid the price. And this brings me (not without a sense of irony) to Rajiva Wijesinghe. It was he who, several years ago, drew my attention to one such individual: Richard de Zoysa, political activist and poet. I conclude with extracts from my resulting review.
[Richard de Zoysa] was well known: a human rights activist, a fearless critic of political immorality and cruelty. As an actor (on stage and screen) and as a journalist and broadcaster, he reached many. In a time of unreason, of “racial” and political hatred and violence, he upheld the values of justice, decency and humanity. He was brutally murdered in February 1990, not having quite reached the age of thirty¬-two. His mother's attempts, despite State obstruction, to bring his killers to justice, excited national admiration and pity.
Sri Lanka is not without such individuals and, therefore (despite the present combination of suave falsehoods and appalling cruelty) not without hope of ethical and political redemption and renewal. When that awakening happens, many now wallowing in power and pride will be seen quite differently.

The Editor of the Sunday Island added the following. It must be noted that Mr Rajapakse’s protest comes within the first of the three categories discussed, namely, fighting for one’s own group.

“Totalitarian leader was once a young idealist fighting for human rights” - Excerpt

“The year was 1989. A violent youth insurrection that had terrorised the Sri Lankan populace was being brutally quelled by the state establishment. Bodies were burned on rubber tyres and the charred remains were left on every street corner. Hundreds of corpses were polluting the major rivers of the island’s south-west. Disappearances, arbitrary detention and revenge killings were the order of the day. With a government at the zenith of its power determined to crush the insurgency through force, leaving a trail of innocent victims in its wake, a young Sri Lankan opposition parliamentarian from the rural south decided to take a stand against the country’s deteriorating human rights situation and the state terror being unleashed upon his fellow citizens.
“Travelling to Switzerland without a penny in his pocket and on an air ticket purchased for him by a friend, the young politician entered the building of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva and parked himself in the lobby. Over several days, he waylaid every delegation passing through those halls, using each opportunity to tell members of the world community about the tragedy that was unfolding in Sri Lanka. So eager and relentless was the young man that he was finally given a special meeting at the UNCHR to present his case. Back in Sri Lanka he organised anti-government campaigns and founded organisations that looked into disappearances. He was, if anything, the face of the agitation campaign against the regime of the day, the street fighter determined to secure the rights of the oppressed and release them from the brutal grip of state terror.
“That man is now Sri Lanka’s fifth Executive President, elected to office in 2005. And so, beyond the signature moustache and the shawl he still wears around his neck, there is no resemblance between the starry-eyed Mahinda Rajapakse from Hambantota, fighting for the rights of his citizens in Geneva, and the corpulent, shrewd politician occupying the premier seat of power in Sri Lanka today. If we were to set aside the remarkable victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for just a moment, the other most significant legacy of Rajapakse’s presidency is the veritable death of the free Sri Lankan media.”

— Special Correspondent, The Independent

charlessarvan@yahoo.com
courtesy: The Sunday Leader,Sunday Sep.20,2009; Vol.:16 & No.11

My intention was to stop the killing of youth

2009-09-13T09:52:00.002+02:00

"I always agitated against violence, fought for justice and for the oppressed" — Tissainayagam.

Full text of Tissainayagam’s statement to the Court:
I wish to commence this statement with a brief introduction about my home.

My father was a government servant for 40 years. He served at the Department of Information and retired as its Director. Later he worked in the Prime Minister’s office as an Assistant Secretary and was the speech writer to the Prime Minister. I grew up in an environment of mixed ethnic groups in Colombo. In school too my friends were from all the different ethnic communities of our country.

My first language is very much English and although I can speak Tamil, I am not very fluent in Tamil. After my high school I entered Peradeniya University and studied in English. There too all my friends were from different ethnic backgrounds.

I joined the Sunday Times in 1987 after university and later have worked as a journalist in a few English language national newspapers. I joined Marga in 1989, pioneered discussions and engaged in research on how to solve the national issue peacefully.

While I was at Marga and later also, I helped OPFMD (Organisation of Parents and Family Members of the Disappeared :

* I helped the families of the disappeared persons from the south due to insurrection by collecting information and translating them into English to send to organisations such as Amnesty International and the UN.

* Vasudeva Nanayakkara and HE Mahinda Rajapakse gave it political leadership and took the documents to Geneva.

* Was always worried for the safety of the civilians.

* Intention was to stop the killing of youth, whoever they were.

Although I told all this when questioned at the TID, they never wrote these things down, and even when Razik dictated for me to write down he left all this out.

I spoke up for the employees and as a consequence my services were terminated. I filed an application in the Labour Tribunal and was awarded compensation. Although Marga appealed to the High Court, it was dismissed.

1994 to 1995 – I worked on a project for UNICEF through an organization called The Medium. Went to the east and did a documentary on children left parentless due to the conflict due to activities of the LTTE, JVP, EPRLF, IPKF, state created violence and other paramilitary groups.

This was also left out of all my statements.

Disappearance Commission – 1994 to 96: I helped them in various ways, collected info, translated them into English, helped to coordinate with families. This was also left out of all my statements.

Knowledge of Tamil: I am not fluent in Tamil, my work has always been in English. I can speak Tamil, but am not fluent. For the first time after I left school I was made to write in Tamil when Razik forced me to take down what he dictated. This is what is now claimed to be my confession. I never wrote it on my own and I stand by the evidence I gave at the voir dire.

I was also scared of my eye condition since I have had surgery for retinal detachment. If it recurred, I would go blind fully. Therefore even when I protested as the factual inaccuracies what is said to be my confession, I wrote it since Razik threatened me and also told me that I would be released soon if I cooperated. He said that they had to send it to the Supreme Court.

Charge under the PTA: It is unfair and illegal to charge me under the PTA for acts said to have been committed during the operation of the Ceasefire Agreement when the government had given an undertaking to relax the operation of PTA and allowed the free movement of the people from north and south into both LTTE and government controlled areas.

I travelled to the north and east during the CFA, as a journalist, collected information about life there to include in my writings, interviewed people from a vast spectrum such as political leaders, religious leaders, scholars, the displaced people, activists, NGO, LTTE leaders. I personally know that many other journalists also travelled to the north and east during this time for the same purpose. I have also spoken on the telephone many times with persons who lived in those places to obtain information.

"I was and am still an advocate against terrorism. I have criticised terrorism in whatever form. I never advocated violence, my objective was to generate non violent means of resolving the conflict, my research, writings and work was towards achieving this."— Tissainayagam.

A person called Baba never offered me any money I never received money from him or the LTTE. North Eastern Monthly was run on a commercial basis. It was sold at bookshops like Vijitha Yapa and Makeen Bookshop. There were subscribers too. The Account Number in which to deposit the subscription money was printed in the North Eastern Monthly from January 2007. Therefore the Account Number was available to anyone who bought the magazine.

I was and am still an advocate against terrorism. I have criticised terrorism in whatever form. I never advocated violence, my objective was to generate non violent means of resolving the conflict, my research, writings and work was towards achieving this.

OPFMD was at one stage involved in securing the release of soldiers and policemen captured by the LTTE. They made contact with the LTTE for this purpose and travelled to the Wanni also. In order to arrange these trips, I have often spoken on the phone in Tamil. I could manage with their contact persons. This was also left out of all my statements.

I am a non violent person and always agitated against violence and for justice for the oppressed. By writing the two articles referred to in the indictment, I never intended to cause violence or communal disharmony and no such thing ever occurred as a result of those articles. This is all I have to say.

Tamils being executed by Sri Lankan soldiers

2009-09-12T15:03:00.001+02:00

Tamils being executed by Sri Lankan soldiers

Media Matters: The Tissanayagam ruling

2009-09-11T16:07:00.000+02:00